‘Several Years’ to Go Before Recovery: Sokol
The economy has “several years” of economic recovery ahead, said David Sokol, chairman of MidAmerican Energy.
“We don’t see any green shoots,” Sokol said in a live interview on CNBC. “We’re out of the emergency room, but we’re in intensive care, and I think we’re going to be there for a while…I think we’ve got several years before we see a recovery.”
He said the housing market is the best indicator of the state of the economy. However, he said he doesn’t see a balanced housing market coming out until the latter half of 2011.
Sokol has seen demand for resources such as steel, aluminum and coal plummet since last December as industrial companies produce less and use less energy.
Berkshire Hathaway’s stockholders and Warren Buffet-watchers have long speculated about who will eventually fill the CEO position. Although Sokol’s had been rumored as a likely candidate, he said that he had never been approached by anyone and that Buffett’s successor will probably be one of the current board members.
