Edward Conard on Buffett

Here is another story on Warren Buffett.  This one is by Edward Conard.

There are so many good points in this short article.  One paragraph worth highlighting:

"Comparing the growth of the U.S. with Europe’s since the early 1990s removes the effect of the Internet. Both economies had access to the same technology and similarly educated workforces to capitalize on the Web’s opportunities. Since then, the U.S. economy has grown 63 percent (in the period through the end of 2010); France and Germany’s together grew less than half as fast. U.S. productivity growth increased from 1.2 percent a year to 2 percent while France and Germany’s declined to less than 1.5 percent a year in the periods 1972-1995 versus 1995-2004. Without U.S. innovation, Europe’s growth would have been lower."

I teach Political Economic Thought next semester, and we will be using Mr. Conard's most recent book, Unintended Consequences.  (We also use books by Friedman, Krugman, Sowell, Stiglitz, and others.)