Warren Buffett On The Government's Printing Of Money

“We have a situation in congress where we have a 10% deficit in terms of GDP,” Buffett told CNBC this morning. “Inflation is the ultimate tax; it taxes people who don't know they're being taxed. It taxes people who believe in paper money. It's not the way the government should behave, but it is the way they behave. We are following policies that will lead to inflation down the road if we don't change. It's like jumping off a building; the first 40, 50 stories you don't notice a difference. But eventually you hit the ground.” Buffett spoke on the issue of politicians making promises for things at one time to get elected, and then another politician is forced to fulfill those promises years down the road. “No politician is going to come out and say, ‘We're gonna solve this by making our money worth less,'” he said. “It'd be suicide to do it.” Buffett said that while these policies aren't written in stone, it's easier for governments to inflate.