CNBC's Claman: Buffett Worried About Trade, Dollar
Warren Buffett told CNBC’s Liz Claman Thursday, after the release of his eagerly anticipated annual shareholder letter, that he’s deeply concerned about U.S. trade problems and predicts more weakness for the dollar.
“Mr. Buffett told me last night that the longer this goes on, the more severe the moment of truth will be, he also says you don’t know when that moment of truth is coming,” Claman said.
Investors are paying particular attention to this warning from Buffett: “Per capita wealth will increase, but our citizens will also be forced every year to ship a significant portion of their current production abroad merely to service the cost of our huge debtor position. It won’t be pleasant to work part of each day to pay for the overconsumption of your ancestors, I believe that at some point in the U.S. the future of the U.S. workers and voters will find this annual “tribute” so onerous there will be a severe political backlash. How that will play out in markets is impossible to predict, but to expect a soft landing seems like wishful thinking.”