Despite a study earlier in the week asserting the recession has ended, famed investor Warren Buffet claims that we are still in a recession. He admits that the economy will recover eventually but that it is going to take a few more years.
On Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research said the world's largest economy ended an 18-month recession in June 2009, but cautioned that its assessment did not mean normal activity had resumed.
Buffett said he defines a recession differently from the NBER, saying it ends when real per capita gross domestic product returns to its pre-downturn level.
President Barack Obama said on Monday that economic weakness is "still very real" for the millions of Americans who are out of work, have seen the value of their homes fall, or are mired in debt.
Buffett, 80, runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc, which has roughly 80 operating businesses. "A great majority" of these businesses are "coming back slowly," he said.
Berkshire's operations cover a broad swath of the economy, including the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, Dairy Queen ice cream, Geico auto insurance, and luxury jewelers such as Borsheim's.
Shipments at Burlington Northern are "61 percent of the way back," Buffett said. "Our carpet business, our brick business, our insulation business, they're not back 61 percent, but they are moving back."
