Buffett Live on CNBC's Squawk Box March 9th, 2009

The Oracle of Omaha talked and answered questions emailed in from viewers for almost 3 whole hours on March 9th, 2009. As usual, there was plenty for us to chew on, but my main take-aways were:

- Executive Compensation and Corporate Jets: There's no point getting mad or going on a witch hunt, a bad economy won't hurt you any less. He used Bernie Madoff as an example. If you were defrauded by Madoff and trapped on a boat which had sprung leak, you were better off plugging that hole than going down with him. Getting mad is just not a productive use of time or energy.

- US Recovery: The US economy will recover. Consistent with his 2008 letter to the shareholders, he is confident that the US economy will fight it's way out of the current situation. There are 3 things that have contributed to the American economic miracle.
1) The Rule of Law;
2) A mostly free market economy;
3) A system that unleashes the human potential.

Rule of law and free market economic systems are not unique to the US. But he argues that the third limb is. The example he gave was the Nebraska Furniture Store. It was started by a Russian migrant "who worked hard, gave better deals and succeeded". You have Russians leaving Russia to become successful in the US, you don't have Americans leaving the US to become successful in Russia. Although American businesses have "misbehaved" and it was silly to give Executives a pen and "put them on the honor system", the system is largely intact and these problems are being addressed. Take-away: Have faith that the US economy will recover.

- Focus & Clarity: There is fear and confusion because we do not have clarity. We are in the midst of an economic war and not everyone recognizes this. Buffett used the Pearl Habor analogy repeatedly. In a war, the country needs to rally behind the President and focus on fighting it. After Pearl Habor, the army and navy did not engage in a finger pointing blame game of who did what wrong--which is exactly what the Democrats and Republicans continue to do. Differences have to be set aside for the greater good. Additionally, the man in the street does not know who Bernanke, Geithner or Paulson are. President Obama needs to come out and address them directly and to tell them that their money is safe.

- Gold: Buffett reiterated his belief in buying good businesses whereas gold will "sit there and look at you". He does not believe that digging something of the ground in Africa, transporting that to the US and storing it underground in the vault will do anything for you.