The Fed will ease and gold will rise becauseWarren Buffett: "We're still in a recession"
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said theU.S. economy remains in recession, disputing this week's assessment by aleading arbiter of economic activity that the downturn ended more than ayear ago.
"We're still in a recession," Buffett told CNBC television in aninterview broadcast on Thursday. "We're not gonna be out of it for awhile, but we will get out."
On Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research said the world'slargest economy ended an 18-month recession in June 2009, but cautionedthat its assessment did not mean normal activity had resumed.
Buffett said he defines a recession differently from the NBER, saying itends when real per capita gross domestic product returns to itspre-downturn level.
President Barack Obama said on Monday that economic weakness is "stillvery real" for the millions of Americans who are out of work, have seenthe value of their homes fall, or are mired in debt.
Buffett, 80, runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc, which has roughly 80 operatingbusinesses. "A great majority" of these businesses are "coming backslowly," he said.
Berkshire's operations cover a broad swath of the economy, including theBurlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, Dairy Queen ice cream, Geicoauto 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 insulationbusiness, they're not back 61 percent, but they are moving back."
On Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has already drivenshort-term lending rates to near zero, said it is prepared to provideadditional stimulus to support economic expansion and avert possibledeflation.
"We've used up a lot of bullets," Buffett said. "And we talk aboutstimulus. But the truth is, we're running a federal deficit that's 9percent of GDP. That is stimulative as all get out."
Buffett's $45 billion net worth makes him the second-richest American,trailing only Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, Forbes magazine saidon Wednesday.
Berkshire Class A shares fell 0.6 percent to $123,077 in morningtrading. They traded as high as $126,160, their highest level in nearly23 months, on September 17.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)