Obama gets Buffett to buy trains

Trains are also used to haul coal around the country, as opposed to other energy sources which travel through pipelines or things like wind and solar. So I read this as a bet against the success of climate change legislation, not anything about the potential success of Obama's plans for high-speed rail.

"train enthusiasts" make it sound like you're talking about guys with pocket protectors who build fancy model railroad systems in the basement of the civil engineering building at MIT...

spsarath--you're right, but Ezra never lets inconvenient facts get in the way of his delusional paeans to the Obama administration.

Ezra, you provide not one fact or shred of evidence to back up your implied assertion that Buffett's acquisition would NOT have happened without Obama's efforts to "revitalize" the railroad industry, efforts you do not detail at all. Were you aware that Berkshire already owned 22% of BNI? A simpler explanation is that Buffett sees recovery in the medium to long term, and that recovery means an increase in the shipment of goods, most of which go by freight rail for at least part of the shipment process. So outright ownership, rather than 22%, means more value for Berkshire shareholders.

This explanation makes more sense than Obama-awesomeness and big government is wonderful, brother. But what else can we expect from a fan-boy like you?

Isn't this whole piece just 'puff and no substance? What concrete policy or Fed Money allocation is there to revitalize train transport? Has this White House crafted any such policy?

Fareed Zakaria mentioned some figures - $200 Billions in next 2 to 3 years will be spend by Chinese Government on Rail Transport. Biden had to fight to get $8Billion in Stimulus package for high speed train and we are not yet started there too. It is true that in China high population density makes train transport necessity but this vast country needs technologically advanced transportation system too.

You know the problem with Obama Administration is they have been dangling carrots of all these 'smart' policies for a year now but nothing concrete comes (except may be Education). White House and Congress is so grid locked in Health Care Reform that both cannot take any other initiative in any meaningful way. Add to that sputtering in HCR itself.

Spending money is not be a problem if it is apportioned smartly to right infrastructure, future technologies and future markets. Such a lack of imagination and bold policy initiatives are hobbling this Administration. Add to that proposed sloppy spending on lurking entitlements.

No wonder Daily Kos laments that Dem base collapsed in Virginia. Possibly Centrists will desert in near future too.

(BTW - Buffett owns WaPo parent company too, I think.)

I agree with the comments above. BNSF does well when oil prices are high, so Buffett's betting on high long-term oil prices. BNSF's biggest threat is strong regulations on coal. So this is more a sign that Buffett believes such regulation will not be forthcoming, either from Congrss or the EPA.

NPR was talking about how Buffet "likes playing with trains." No respect, I tell yas. No respect.

*So I read this as a bet against the success of climate change legislation,*

I'm pretty sure that this was not your read, but rather the read on the story given by the news wires who were making this exact statement, which you repeated word-for-word. Unless, of course, you *are* that reporter on the DC news radio channel who said this last night.

Why would this be "good news for train enthusiasts"? America's railroads, and BNSF in particular, are in fine shape, and might even be said to never been better. And you certainly don't need any crystal ball, or any help from the government, to realize this.

So maybe Buffet is a smart guy, and won't actually harm the BNSF. Or maybe getting swallowed by a giant non-railroad conglomerate will start the same downward trend we saw in the 60s, when railroads were taken over by non-railroad companies who ruined them in monopoly games and dumb attempts to modernize. There's a lot that could go wrong here and we'll be lucky if BNSF stays as good as it is.

"government policy triggers private investment"

What investment are you talking about? Does Buffet intend to actually put money into the company to make capital investments in rail infrastructure? Just buying a business is not the same as investing in the business, although it has become customary to disregard the difference.