Look, I used to love Buffett. Read the Warren Buffett way, read this old yellow book he wrote in the 70's about value investing. Studied him. Modeled him.
What 'old yellow book' is that? As far as I know, Buffett hasn't written a book. You might be thinking of The Intelligent Investor; he's written the introduction for an edition of that one.
Regarding your larger point: I don't think anyone claims that the entire recession was due to the fact that loans were made or homes were bought. The recession was due to the prices at which these activities took place. It's not hypocritical to say that, for example, GE was overpriced at $30, but it's cheap at $10.
And I would take issue with the idea that the current crisis is due to anything 'selfish'. It's centered on a highly subsidized market, which was designed to give people homes, not make the government rich. The fact that this well-meaning behavior backfired so dramatically is only obvious in hindsight, or to anybody who reads much history at all.
You're right, I apologize. It wasn't written by him. It's called "Value Investing Made Easy" and is /about/ him, but not written by him. can't see when it was written. I checked it out from the library years ago and it was totally worn out, so my impression may not match the copyright.
I would disagree with your comments though. I would say this crisis is about overvaluing assets, irrational exuberance fueled by greed, and improper lending practices by individuals and businesses that can easily pass the buck to someone in another country.
And I would take issue with the idea that the current crisis is due to anything 'selfish'.
Sounds like the claim of someone working in finance. If you're referring to CRA then just follow the money and you will see CRA accounted for little over a third of all subprime loans. AND, anyone in finance should know it wasn't just the subprime deals that went down. The entire mortgage market went down. CRA being the culprit is a long-shot at best, but please elaborate if I've got you wrong.
With regard to the well-meaning behavior, well, it wasn't just well-meaning behavior just like it wasn't just CRA. There was plenty of selfishness. People on the street couldn't get enough paper for packaging securities. The money on the commission for selling this was huge. You're crazy if you think anyone on the street will turn down an easy way to make money.
What 'old yellow book' is that? As far as I know, Buffett hasn't written a book. You might be thinking of The Intelligent Investor; he's written the introduction for an edition of that one.
Regarding your larger point: I don't think anyone claims that the entire recession was due to the fact that loans were made or homes were bought. The recession was due to the prices at which these activities took place. It's not hypocritical to say that, for example, GE was overpriced at $30, but it's cheap at $10.
And I would take issue with the idea that the current crisis is due to anything 'selfish'. It's centered on a highly subsidized market, which was designed to give people homes, not make the government rich. The fact that this well-meaning behavior backfired so dramatically is only obvious in hindsight, or to anybody who reads much history at all.