101 for common sense. 

Did you read the article?

Isaac soloman wrote: Did you read the article? The democrat bit hasnt stopped me from posting this piece. Confusing isnt it mr p. Sounds like trump speaking. he believes that the pursuit of capitalism is fundamentally moral - that it creates and produces prosperity and progress even when there are immoral actors and even when it creates inequality. even the do-gooders among us may heed. For example, Buffett made a persuasive argument that the obsession among corporate governance experts with appointing so-called independent directors to company boards was one of the great hoaxes perpetrated on public investors. went so far as to dismiss the growing movement among investors and policymakers to fix it by focusing on environmental, social and governance initiatives - known as ESG. Buffett appeared to suggest that the movement is largely virtue-signaling and ultimately counterproductive. "Berkshire does not have a policy regarding the consideration of diversity in identifying nominees for director. In identifying director nominees, the Governance Committee does not seek diversity, however defined. Instead, as previously discussed, the Governance Committee looks for individuals who have very high integrity, business-savvy, an owner-oriented attitude and a deep genuine interest in the company.

Isaac , I don't think it's confusing or sounding like Trump , it probably comes down to your definition of capitalism . We all tend to pigeon hole people who say things we disagree with . 

Is this piece written by a Buffet supporter?

1. The reason the economic system has come under attack over the last decade is the huge number and unending, array of corruption, tax avoidance and market manipulation which ahs occurred, and which all really took off with the sub-prime crisis, a situation where even using Buffets own model the government should have let the money lenders fall over, because they do not want the government to interfere with their businesses. Any individual or organisation who thinks that the people, the corporations, and their actions, which contributed to that scenario, are moral and ethical, is deluded.
2. There is something refreshing about his openness. Really? The guy is just about untouchable on Wall Street, and he has earnt his reputation, but I do not think he is acting bravely, he is doing what every person should do.
3. No surprise that chief executives have gone back doing business with the House of Saud. I mean it was the nation who supplied most of those who committed the 9/11 attacks and no stop in business happened after that, mind you a lot of Americans and Australians mae fortunes operating in Japan after the second world war.
4. Buffet succinctly explained the flaw in capitalism. The centerpiece of capitalism is to produce more and more in an inefficient manner, which in the end will result in most corporations looking for unethical and illegal methods to continue to expand the profits. An example of this is how the American manufacturing industry is a shadow of it's former self, and how the central American and south east Asian sweat shops are now the supplier, at a lower cost, which results in and increase to corporations profits.
5. I am afraid a capitalist society will always hurt some people within society. And here ladies and gentleman, is the reason why Australia has universal health care and an unemployment benefit, and this is why you never want to get sick in the US, and why you never ever want to be unemployed there either. Capitalism's wealth does not reach everyone, just look at our current situation with our farmers, who are all hard workers, maybe some do not know good farming practice, but that is another story, and so the government, has an obligation, a 100% obligation, to safeguard citizens who do not share in that wealth.
6. He dismisses the current initiatives to try and reform the capitalist structure. Now this is a fair point, but it has been shown many, many times, that if the corporate and business sector are left to do business with no oversight, they fall into bad practices. I agree that some of the actual remedies, announced or put forward are just political correctness dressing up as real solutions, but oversight is always needed, on past experience.
7. He says that some people who talk about best corporate practice, do not understand what those practices are. Fair enough, but he then says they talk about practices on what will sell not what will work. But he does not say what the current practices do to benefit society, or which section of society is benefitted. The accumulation of personal wealth of the top 1% of citizens, does nothing to assist the lowest 20% of the society!
8. The point about Berkley's committee appointments is to me a valid one, I do not believe in quotas or affirmative action, but it just perpetuates a old white man image that wall street still has, but obviously wall street does not care about that so move on.
9. Almost apologising for how Tim Sloan was treated, but for mine he got what he deserved, do the crime do the time, and while it is not a case as bad as murder, what he did, deserved what he got.
10. Completely agree with him on the independent directors. As part of the board of our local community radio station, I am glad we do not pay our independent member, who is a councillor on the local council, because we receive correct and straight forward advice or recommendations. If you have an independent member of a committee, who is only receiving income from being a committee member, then how can the independent member, be truly independent.

In finishing I would just like to say that a fully capitalist society is not the best way to structure an economy. China and India have booming economies, and they have achieved this through having a nationalised and free market economic system working alongside each other, but obviously one could argue they are special circumstances.

If you want to see how a capitalist economy is not the best way to go, then just watch some videos of travelers who travel through the former soviet nations, where oligarchs and corrupt governments have squandered the opportunities that their nations have acquired, for their own pockets.

When you see them, you will understand why some of the people who live in these countries, long for a return to the soviet way!