Disaster capitalism

[sandinista]

bunch of fucking parasites.

Warren Buffett: Japan Disaster Presents A 'Buying Opportunity'

DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett believes Japan's devastating earthquake is the kind of extraordinary event that creates a buying opportunity for shares in Japanese companies.

Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has been battling to bring an overheating nuclear plant under control after it was battered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that rattled global markets and prompted massive intervention in currency markets by the Group of Seven industrial nations.

"It will take some time to rebuild, but it will not change the economic future of Japan," Buffett said on Monday on a visit to a South Korean factory run by a company owned by one of his funds. "If I owned Japanese stocks, I would certainly not be selling them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/2 ... =fb&src=sp

[Wumbologist]

I was going to make a thread called "Disaster Socialism" but then I decided I didn't feel like writing an essay on what's happened to every country that implemented it.

[sandinista]

so...just thought you would let everyone know you were "going to start a thread", good for you.

[Wumbologist]

so...just thought you would let everyone know you were "going to start a thread", good for you.

You forgot about the part where I didn't feel like it, which was the important news.

[sandinista]

so, you just thought you needed to let everyone know you "didn't feel like starting a thread". good for you!

[Wumbologist]

so, you just thought you needed to let everyone know you "didn't feel like starting a thread". good for you!

In other breaking news, I thought I had to fart but as I pushed, it felt more like a shit. But don't worry, I made it to the toilet before the hull breached.

[Ian]

In other words, some investors panicked at the sight of news in Japan, markets characteristically dropped more than necessary in the face of a disaster, and Warren Buffet gets it right yet again.

Basic principles of market economics. Don't buy when there's an obvious bubble about to burst. And do buy (or at least don't sell) when the market dips unnecessarily low. Like Buffet said: Japan will indeed rebound just fine.

In other news, the other day I was at one of those kids' gyms with the big inflatable toys. One time, I jumped down on a trampoline. As I hit the mat and sank down for a second, I figured I'd bounce up to the height I had been before. That's when a little devil on my shoulder blurted out that I was a fucking parasite to make such a prediction. But to his astonishment, I did not fall through the trampoline. I bounced back up.

[HomerJay]

Have you seen the rumours about George Soros? Invests heavily in western oil companies in 2009, just as Gadaffi is being rehabilitated, pays El Baradei to stuff Mubarak in Egypt but not before he's moved his Libyan investments from western companies to russian and venezuelan oil companies just in time.

[egbert]

I was going to make a thread called "Disaster Socialism" but then I decided I didn't feel like writing an essay on what's happened to every country that implemented it.

I was going to start a thread about greedy capitalists, but decided it wasn't worth it.

[JOZeldenrust]

bunch of fucking parasites.

Warren Buffett: Japan Disaster Presents A 'Buying Opportunity'

DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett believes Japan's devastating earthquake is the kind of extraordinary event that creates a buying opportunity for shares in Japanese companies.

Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has been battling to bring an overheating nuclear plant under control after it was battered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that rattled global markets and prompted massive intervention in currency markets by the Group of Seven industrial nations.

"It will take some time to rebuild, but it will not change the economic future of Japan," Buffett said on Monday on a visit to a South Korean factory run by a company owned by one of his funds. "If I owned Japanese stocks, I would certainly not be selling them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/2 ... =fb&src=sp

So what if some investors profit from a disaster? The question should be whether the Japanese people suffer because of it. The answer is clearly "no, they don't." Because of investments in Japanese companies, most likely mostly companies in construction of infrastructure, those companies will have more means to quickly rebuild the infrastructure lost in the disaster. Because of it, the Japanese economy will be able to recuperate the loss in productivity more quickly.

Buffets advice isn't to make money off the misfortune of others, it's to make money by enabling those unfortunate others to get out of trouble.

[sandinista]

I was going to make a thread called "Disaster Socialism" but then I decided I didn't feel like writing an essay on what's happened to every country that implemented it.

I was going to start a thread about greedy capitalists, but decided it wasn't worth it.

I kind of thought I might start a thread about carrot muffins too.

[PsychoSerenity]

Buffets advice isn't to make money off the misfortune of others, it's to make money by enabling those unfortunate others to get out of trouble.

How is that any difference? Investing when they are at their most desperate, so you can make greater return, is making money from their misfortune. If someone genuinely wanted to enable them to get out of trouble, for a fair exchange, they would buy stocks at the price they were before they dropped - but I don't think capitalism would work if people did things fairly.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

bunch of fucking parasites.

Warren Buffett: Japan Disaster Presents A 'Buying Opportunity'

DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett believes Japan's devastating earthquake is the kind of extraordinary event that creates a buying opportunity for shares in Japanese companies.

Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has been battling to bring an overheating nuclear plant under control after it was battered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that rattled global markets and prompted massive intervention in currency markets by the Group of Seven industrial nations.

"It will take some time to rebuild, but it will not change the economic future of Japan," Buffett said on Monday on a visit to a South Korean factory run by a company owned by one of his funds. "If I owned Japanese stocks, I would certainly not be selling them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/2 ... =fb&src=sp

[JOZeldenrust]

Buffets advice isn't to make money off the misfortune of others, it's to make money by enabling those unfortunate others to get out of trouble.

How is that any difference? Investing when they are at their most desperate, so you can make greater return, is making money from their misfortune. If someone genuinely wanted to enable them to get out of trouble, for a fair exchange, they would buy stocks at the price they were before they dropped - but I don't think capitalism would work if people did things fairly.

I'm not saying this is a noble thing to do, I'm saying this isn't evil. It's pretty much neutral. Investors seek to make money. They can do so by investing in Japanese infrastructure. The Japanese are seeking to rebuild their infrastructure. They can do so by attracting foreign investments. Their goals aren't the same, but they're both served with the same course of action, so they go ahead and do it. Optimal allocation of resources, just as Adam Smith described.

[Ian]

Going by Buffet's quotes above, he's just making a dispassioned prediction about the future of the Japanese market. That's what he does - make dispassioned predictions about economics.

I suppose he could've preceded those quotes with "I feel terribly sorry for the people in Japan affected by this awful disaster, and my heart goes out to them. Having said that, it will take some time to rebuild...etc." But is that really want we care to hear from Buffet? I honestly don't care about what his emotions say - I want to hear his economic analysis.