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"Civilized people don't buy gold," Charlie Munger tells CNBC, prompting a couple of nice...

  • Friday, May 4, 2012, 3:21 PM ET
    "Civilized people don't buy gold," Charlie Munger tells CNBC, prompting a couple of nice replies. From John Defeo, "... they buy 1/3 of the world's silver," referring to The Oracle's 2001 foray into that metal. "When one is fully invested in a fiat currency system both financially and in terms of legacy, you might say (that)," writes Robert Sinn.
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This news story has 41 comments:

  •  
    When on a deserted island, gold, silver, and fiat currencies are equally as useful. Put another way, if everyone but your closest 10,000 friends die tomorrow, these items would all be useless.
    4 May 2012, 03:26 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Not really, gold would make good fishing weights...
    4 May 2012, 03:47 PM Reply Like
  •  
    If it comes to us being on a desert island, or 10,000 of the people I know dying tomorrow, there are bigger issues than currency in the short term...

    Other than those cases, i.e. the world we all actually live in, there are very significant differences between fiat currencies and the other two. Differences people should at least attempt to understand even if they don't agree with them.
    4 May 2012, 03:49 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Buffet often uses a farm as the figurative productive asset when discussing gold. So in the island scenario, would you rather own all the farm land in the area (productive asset), or its equivalent value in gold? I think most rational people who want to make it past the first week would chose the farm.
    19 May 2012, 11:54 AM Reply Like
  •  
    I've already covered that in my last response, where I said that in that case "there are bigger issues than currency in the *short term*". Please read what follows that in my previous response.
    19 May 2012, 01:10 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Go get'um Charlie!!!
    4 May 2012, 03:33 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Gold has outperformed Berkshire Hathaway 140% to 11% over the last 5 years. 10 year numbers are equally as bad.

    Go get'um Charlie!!
    4 May 2012, 03:50 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Over the last 23.68 years...Berkshire Hathaway is up 2732.56%
    (reinvested),,,,Gold is up 281.71% ( reinvested)...Charlie got'um

    P.S. Sorry I couldn't include today's price action
    4 May 2012, 03:56 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Yahoo outperformed gold in the 90's too... and just like Berkshire.... it has loooooooong since peaked.
    4 May 2012, 05:28 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Well then I guess over the last 10 years you just have to be satisfied with those big Berkshire dividends!!
    4 May 2012, 07:36 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Anyone know a Free Mason? Is Charlie a Free Mason? Here is why I am asking: Is this a signal to leader of the new world order (shadow government) to sell gold and push it down? We will see over the next couple of days.
    4 May 2012, 10:54 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Berkshire was going to go bankrupt in 2008-2009 crisis. The government bailed them out by bailing out banks and printing money. Gold never needs a bailout.
    Forget gold, check S@P vs. Buffett over the last few years. He is way after his peak and his investors are just fooling themselves. They are getting neither alpha nor beta.
    5 May 2012, 04:31 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Cool, how about the last 20 years? 30 years? 40 years? That's what I thought.
    31 May 2012, 01:17 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Berkshire has owned 10% of coca cola longer than Yahoo has been alive. Just to put things into perspective....
    31 May 2012, 01:19 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Nope.....just Central Bankers and all those on the opposing side of the Central Bankers. So who are the more civilized I wonder - the Central Banksters or those opposing?

    Warren lost a little more than a billion when he (probably forced) sold his silver investment years ago. I wonder if he's bitter? And of course....he's gotten more civilized in the last 6 or 7 years as he's gotten older.

    I wonder when you get really, really wealthy if the "black helicopters" land on your front lawn and a message is delivered to you that you must now play by their rules....or else?
    4 May 2012, 03:42 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I have been pretty much out of gold for the past 15 months. But with the ever increasing debt worldwide, and the total failure of any government to address it I am looking at getting back in.

    I think it is just a matter of time before we see large inflation increases, the trick is picking when it will start - I am expecting in 12-20 months.
    4 May 2012, 03:56 PM Reply Like
  •  
    TGIF
    4 May 2012, 03:59 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Charlie seems to have a botox look about
    him. Probably primping for his moment of fame
    Red
    4 May 2012, 04:04 PM Reply Like
  •  
    http://yhoo.it/IKsK9F;range=my;compare=brk-...
    4 May 2012, 04:19 PM Reply Like
  •  
    (GLD) WAY better than Berkshire 250% in last 5-10 years.Berkshire has GROSSLY underperformed ALL market indices for years simply go to Yahoo and do comparison grafting. We bought our first ounce of Gold for $29 in the late sixties up 5000% since then. It remains the "fortress currency of the world" out performing all stock indices treasuries and cash.Very rare a finite supply made inside of stars not trees so it will always be the currency of the realm.Should be 20% minimum of any quality portfolio.We currently are gold buyers under $1500 /oz big buyers under $1250/oz. Long Gold in many forms over time currently GLD and NUGT for short buy the dip sell the rip trades. APD
    4 May 2012, 04:42 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Well stated remurraymd, In his CNBC interview Buffet disclosed he bought the failing Omaha newspaper for Berkshire........Why he's asked?......he liked to read it as a kid......his words!! Then named his farmer son as his heir to Berkshire's executive board. If you are a BRKA or B shareholder you gotta be worried after that interview.
    4 May 2012, 07:50 PM Reply Like
  •  
    "relegated to working the rooms for free press like has-been vaudeville salesmen" - great, apt metaphor. figure of speech or whatever.....thank-you
    19 May 2012, 10:02 AM Reply Like
  •  
    I just did a Yahoo comparison of BRK-A to the S&P 500 and Dow and the Nasdaq. For BOTH the 5 and 10 year periods, the Yahoo comparison shows BRK outrunning the Dow and S&P 500 by a long way. For the Nasdaq, it modestly outperforms BRK over the 10 year period, and is basically a tie for the 5.

    So, BRK is not exactly underperforming ALL market indices for years, huh? (unless you cherry pick some short timeframe, I suppose)
    9 Jun 2012, 06:30 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Buffett is a quintessential crony capitalist. I wonder where his legacy would have been if he had been forced to operate in a true free market economy.
    4 May 2012, 04:44 PM Reply Like
  •  
    No legacy. 2008-2009 completely bankrupted him and only the government saved him by baling out banks + money printing. I wonder how his derivatives positions would be doing now without that.
    5 May 2012, 04:33 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Someone who can't use the correct form of "bail" in a sentence or put a question mark after a question, and calls someone worth $50 billion-ish -- earned from a career of investment success (before giving most of it to charity - what a mean old guy) "bankrupt" -- pretty much says you have no idea what you're talking about. Of course, self touting is much easier than fact checking, isn't it?
    9 Jun 2012, 06:38 AM Reply Like
  •  
    "Civilized people don't buy gold," That doesn't mean they are intelligent!
    4 May 2012, 04:52 PM Reply Like
  •  
    "Civilized people don't buy gold"

    However, when civilized people think the government is immoral and cannot be trusted. They will buy gold and diamond and sew them into their clothes. The Jews did just that under the Nazi government. Were they uncivilized?
    4 May 2012, 07:04 PM Reply Like
  •  
    One more thing. I think Charlie forgot the "Golden Rule."
    4 May 2012, 04:55 PM Reply Like
  •  
    "Forgetting your mistakes is a terrible error if you are trying to improve your cognition."
    Charlie Munger -

    It is not to late Charlie.
    4 May 2012, 05:07 PM Reply Like
  •  
    When CNBC start getting quotes from the nursing home residents?? Must have been a slow day!!

    About 3 years ago I cancelled my subscription to Outstanding Investor Digest when I painfully read Munger's rant against asset managers & financial planners, etc for having the audacity to buy/recommend gold!!
    4 May 2012, 08:04 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Someone who can't use the correct form of "too" in a sentence probably should tread carefully when criticizing the cognition of the some of the best investment minds in American history.
    9 Jun 2012, 06:34 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Ever since Warren started all that blathering about raising taxes, I have been calling him "The Orifice of Omaha."
    4 May 2012, 05:11 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Denny....thanks for ending the day on a light note.....made me laugh. Good one.
    4 May 2012, 05:33 PM Reply Like
  •  
    More gold-bashing on CNBC. Not surprised.
    4 May 2012, 09:59 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Over the past two years, when CNBC starts bashing something, it is time to start looking to buy in - and vice versa of course.
    5 May 2012, 06:24 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Charlie is getting old and would like to believe the world is civilized. But the reality is things are breaking down in many place, and people are becoming less so. Just look at gun sales, pension obligations, health insurance costs, taxes, Occupy Wall Streeters, Greek rioting, Euro doubts, U.S. debt. I've probably forgot 100 other reasons but you get the point. He can act civilized only because he's in the top 1%er's.
    5 May 2012, 11:19 AM Reply Like
  •  
    I don't find it civilized if someone sounds like antisemitic.
    5 May 2012, 01:40 PM Reply Like
  •  
    People that have not seen mass riots up close tend to forget or ignore just how fast things can fall apart once they start.
    5 May 2012, 06:26 PM Reply Like
  •  
    The world is heating up and I dont mean global warming. Silver, silver and more silver until an electronic cashless society rules out fiat, gold and silver. So make the most of silver while we all can until big brother takes that away from us too.

    LIVE LIFE THE BEST WAY WE CAN :-)
    6 May 2012, 09:45 AM Reply Like
  •  
    sentiment has turned hugely bearish against gold because it has sucked big time for past 9 months. lots of news articles about how terrible gold is. this nonsense from munger. Today could very well be the bottom.
    30 May 2012, 12:05 PM Reply Like
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