Warren Buffett Sees Deeper and Longer US Recession

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-25 14:37:30

Billionaire financier and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett plays bridge with shareholders during their annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 4, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo, 5/25/08).

BEIJING, May 25 --

The United States is "already in recession," and it will be "deeper" and "longer " than people think, said Warren Buffett in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday.

Buffett said the United States is already in recession and added: "Perhaps not in the sense that economists would define it" with two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

"But the people are already feeling the effects," said Buffett," It will be deeper and last longer than many think."

Buffett, the 77-year-old chief of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company, just overtook Bill Gates this year as the world's richest man. His wealth jumped from 52 billion dollars last year to 62 billion this year.

He blamed financial institutions for introducing instruments "they can no longer control" and said the "genie can no longer be put back in the bottle."

However, he also mentioned this won't stop him investing in selected companies.

U.S. economic growth has slowed dramatically in recent months and a growing number of economists believe the world's largest economy will experience a recession during 2008 amid a housing slump and related credit crunch.

(Source: China Daily/Agencies)

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