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Buffett’s bet to keep jobs in America

By
Patricia Sellers
Patricia Sellers
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By
Patricia Sellers
Patricia Sellers
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November 4, 2009, 10:56 PM ET

“If you buy a railroad, you can’t move it to China or to India or anyplace else. You are betting on the United States. I can’t think of a surer bet.”

– Warren Buffett, explaining Berkshire Hathaway’s $44 billion buyout of Burlington Northern Santa Fe .

Click here to see Buffett talking about his biggest deal ever with CNNMoney anchor Poppy Harlow.

While the size was a surprise, the bet on America was not. In September, at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, Buffett said he was busy buying stocks and had lots of faith in the U.S. “Our genius in the U.S. is not avoiding problems. It’s overcoming problems,” he told my colleague Carol Loomis.

Their on-stage conversation–recalling the collapse of Lehman and its awful aftermath, and also looking ahead–was terrific. We ran snippets earlier on Postcards. But since Buffett is back in the news, we’ll share all 22 minutes:

[cnnmoney-video vid=/video/fortune/2009/09/15/f_mpw_buffett.fortune]And if you’re curious to know what it’s like to work for Buffett, read “How Warren Buffett manages his managers.”

About the Author
By Patricia Sellers
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