Warren Buffett Says American Economy is a Shambles

By Dan Denning

Yesterday didn't turn out so bad after all on the ASX. Stocks finished slightly up, as did the Aussie dollar and oil. Today might be a different story, though.

For starters, billionaire investor/guru/jovial-grandfatherly-figure Warren Buffett has said the American economy is a "shambles." Buffett told CNBC that the worst of the financial crisis peaked late last year (we're not so sure). But the economic crisis? That's still in full flight.

"I get figures on 70-odd businesses, a lot of them daily," said Buffett. "Everything that I see about the economy is that we've had no bounce. The financial system was really where the crisis was last September and October, and that's been surmounted and that's enormously important. But in terms of the economy coming back, it takes a while."

"A while," is not a precise unit of time. But Buffett is probably right. "There were a lot of excesses to be wrung out and that process is still underway and it looks to me like it will be underway for quite a while. In the (Berkshire Hathaway) annual report I said the economy would be in a shambles this year and probably well beyond. I'm afraid that's true."