Why Does The View of a Tax Avoiding, Conservative Nonagenarian on Bitcoin Matter?
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Time to consign the views of the so called oracle to the dustbin of history.
Warren Buffett is a one-man economic phenomenon.
The oracle of Omaha has amassed a huge fortune from a lifetime of making the right decision on stocks and companies. Which is to say that over the last 6 decades, the world’s most famous nonagenarian has seen it all: recessions, umpteen economic crises, oil wars, black Monday (October 1987), black Wednesday (September 1992), the rise and fall of dot coms, ponzi schemes, and Covid-19.
And his story gains even more traction when it is pointed out that since his 65th birthday, he has gone on to add $81 billion to his already significant wealth.
To provide a bit of perspective on this, one should look at the big players of the last thirty years such as James Simons of Renaissance Funds and Carlos Slim of Mexico, who haven’t been able to compound their money in the same way that Nebraska’s finest has.
But this is only half of the story.
You can argue with a degree of credibility that our protagonist owes his immense wealth to profoundly irresponsible fiscal and economic policies pursued by previous American presidents.
And a good few come to mind.
Richard Nixon’s ending of dollar-gold convertibility in 1971; a highly cynical decision which has recklessly increased the availability of the American currency from $600 million fifty years ago to $50 trillion today.
Ronald Reagan made deregulation and lower taxes the cornerstone of his presidency. Steps which led to the wealthy becoming much wealthier and paying much less in taxes.
George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton continued in the same vein; while the latter inherited a major budget deficit, which he turned into a surplus by the end of his presidency, the former Arkansas governor remained committed to giving the 1% a free ride by dispossessing the poorest of whatever wealth they had.
And when you add George Bush Jr. and Donald Trump’s fiscal policies to the mix, then you start to understand why people like Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Ken Griffin, James Simons, Edward…
