A napokban jelent meg a Berkshire Hathaway éves működéséről szóló levél. Sok érdekes információt tartalmaz a vállalat működéséről, befektetési filozófiájukról, így mindenképp érdekes, és tartalmas olvasmány. Most csak egy rövidebb részt szeretnék kiemelni, ami elgondolkodtató, hogy mennyire jó élete van most egy amerikai átlagembernek.
„It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve). As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans now believe that their children will not live as well as they themselves do.
That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history.
American GDP per capita is now about $56,000. As I mentioned last year that – in real terms – is a staggering six times the amount in 1930, the year I was born, a leap far beyond the wildest dreams of my parents or their contemporaries. U.S. citizens are not intrinsically more intelligent today, nor do they work harder than did Americans in 1930. Rather, they work far more efficiently and thereby produce far more. This all-powerful trend is certain to continue: America’s economic magic remains alive and well. Some commentators bemoan our current 2% per year growth in real GDP – and, yes, we would all like to see a higher rate. But let’s do some simple math using the much-lamented 2% figure. That rate, we will see, delivers astounding gains.”
„America’s population is growing about .8% per year (.5% from births minus deaths and .3% from net migration). Thus 2% of overall growth produces about 1.2% of per capita growth. That may not sound impressive. But in a single generation of, say, 25 years, that rate of growth leads to a gain of 34.4% in real GDP per capita. (Compounding’s effects produce the excess over the percentage that would result by simply multiplying 25 x 1.2%.) In turn, that 34.4% gain will produce a staggering $19,000 increase in real GDP per capita for the next generation. Were that to be distributed equally, the gain would be $76,000 annually for a family of four. Today’s politicians need not shed tears for tomorrow’s children.
Indeed, most of today’s children are doing well. All families in my upper middle-class neighborhood regularly enjoy a living standard better than that achieved by John D. Rockefeller Sr. at the time of my birth. His unparalleled fortune couldn’t buy what we now take for granted, whether the field is – to name just a few – transportation, entertainment, communication or medical services. Rockefeller certainly had power and fame; he could not, however, live as well as my neighbors now do.”
Természetesen Magyarországon hajlamosak vagyunk azt nézni, hogy mennyivel jobb az életszínvonal Nyugat-Európában vagy az Egyesült Államokban, de tulajdonképp a mi régiónkra is elmondható, hogy mennyivel jobban élünk, mint az 1920-as, 1930-as években élő legmódosabb polgárok vagy főurak, és olyan termékekhez, szolgáltatásokhoz, infrastruktúrához vagy egészségügyi ellátáshoz férünk hozzá még átlagemberként is, amiről ők nem is álmodhattak.
