Monday, May 14, 2007

Charlie Munger, my new hero

I like his bluntness here:
At Berkshire's recent annual meeting in Omaha, an investor asked CEO Warren Buffett for his thoughts on ethanol. Maybe because Buffett lives in corn country, he punted the politically delicate question to his right-hand man, vice chairman Charlie Munger.

Munger, never one to mince words, replied that it was silly for the government to plow billions of dollars into a making energy from a food staple, which might lead to higher prices of many foods.

"Running cars on corn is about the stupidest thing I ever heard of," Munger said. "Our government is under tremendous political pressure even though it makes no sense."

To which Buffett replied: "Well, Charlie, we'll be sneaking you out of Omaha tonight."

I recently wrote my first words ever that were sympathetic to ethanol, but those words came with a lot of caveats. And they in no way supported ethanol from corn. I think Munger hit the ball square on the sweet spot in Omaha.

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