Buffett: U.S. couldn’t do better than Bernanke
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett heaped praise on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday, saying the U.S. couldn’t do better than to have Bernanke on board during this recession.
Buffett lent Bernanke some key support as rumors have flown that President Obama might reappoint the depression economist to another term at the Fed, and as Congress considers granting Bernanke much more aggressive tools to regulate the financial sector.
“I don’t see how you could do better,” Buffett said in an interview on CNBC. “He has taken decisive action at a time when really decisive action was needed.”
Buffett offered praise for the Bush administration’s officials’ actions during the financial meltdown last fall.
“They got us through a position where, if you had different people in those jobs, I’m not sure you would have gotten through,” he said.
Buffett also heaped praise on President Obama’s top economic officials, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and National Economic Council Chairman Larry Summers, but said that Bernanke is key to that “troika.”
Buffett offered measured praise for the current administration’s proposed overhaul of the financial regulatory system, though he worried Obama may be losing some focus on the current economic woes in the U.S.
“They’re doing things, but it takes a while to have an effect. You can’t produce a baby in a month by getting nine women pregnant,” he said. “They’ve turned their sights to other problems, but this problem is not yet solved.”
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