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It’s just one line, but it hit the markets with a thud, billionaire Warren Buffett in an annual letter to shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway company wrote: “…the economy will be in shambles throughout 2009, and for that matter, probably will beyond”
“Warren Buffett’s typically been more optimistic than most. And he's always set a long-term projection. So to, you know, to hear him use the term, the terms that he used in describing the US economy, I certainly think it was eye-poppingly surprising. ”
Buffett’s forecast comes after the Federal Reserve Chairman struck a more optimistic note last week, saying there is a reasonable prospect the recession would end this year. That echos what president Obama’s budget director had to say about when the economy would bottom out.
“Somewhere towards the end of this year, or early next year.”
But some economists are growing more pessimistic. Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com says there is now a one in four chance of a mild depression. There is no official definition of the depression. But Zandi defines it as double-digit unemployment for more than a year. But he says conditions would not sink to the depth of the Great Depression.
“So this is something different than the recession and economists are struggling with what to call it. And the word ‘depression’ is now creeping into the life, into the lan