The American economic miracle ‘has always prevailed and it will do so again’
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) shared an optimistic message with investors on the trajectory of the U.S. economy.
“We faced great problems in the past,” Buffett said Saturday at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting. “We haven’t faced this exact problem, we haven’t faced anything that quite resembles this problem. But we faced tougher problems, and the American miracle, the American magic has always prevailed and it will do so again.”
Buffett’s remarks marked his first address to shareholders since much of the nation went on lockdown beginning in mid-March. In the weeks since, the U.S. economy tumbled into a downturn as businesses across the nation went on lockdown, leading to the deepest first-quarter economic contraction since 2008 and a historic surge in new unemployment claims.
The annual shareholder meeting – often called the “Woodstock of Capitalism” with thousands of investors venturing to Nebraska to hear directly from the Oracle of Omaha – was itself disrupted this year by the coronavirus pandemic, and was broadcast solely through livestream with no physical attendees.
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks to the press as he arrives at the 2019 annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 4, 2019. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)
Buffett has been a longtime voice of optimism on the U.S. economy and business innovation, often touting his enduring confidence in the “American tailwind.” His adage that “America’s best days lie ahead” appeared in each of his 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010 and 2008 letters to shareholders, with the assured maxim coming as a slice of hope through the market crises, political turmoil and economic downturns that punctuated years past.
Similar patriotic optimism permeated each of his annual messages to investors. In his 2013 letter, he declared the “mother lode of opportunity resides in America,” and in 2016 boiled down his view to “one word” to “sum up our country’s achievements: miraculous.”
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