Warren Buffett Said the Economy Is Like a Train—'Occasionally They Get Derailed' and Crashes Like 2008 Will Happen, But 'America Can't Be Stopped'

It's April 2025, and the markets are once again on edge. A fresh round of tariffs from President Donald Trump—this time a sweeping 145% levy on Chinese imports—sent the Dow plunging over 4,000 points in just two days. That's the biggest two-day drop in history, and it's got investors asking: is this another 2008?

In a 2018 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Warren Buffett explained the 2008 financial meltdown using a metaphor he's stuck with for years. "You can imagine the American economy is an economic train moving down a track that has no ending," he said. "Occasionally that train is going to get derailed."

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Buffett was in the thick of it during the actual derailment. In 2008, while panic spread and institutions collapsed, the White House turned to him. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson reportedly took late-night calls from Buffett, who advised the government to inject capital directly into banks. That advice helped shape what became the $250 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program—a key tool in halting the financial freefall.

He didn't just offer advice. Buffett backed it up with billions of his own dollars. Berkshire Hathaway poured $5 billion into Goldman Sachs and $3 billion into General Electric—deals that weren't just lifelines, but signals to the world: America's biggest investor still believed the system would hold. And he was right.

"There will be other crises," Buffett said in 2018, a decade later. "The United States will come back… the factories don't disappear, the farmland doesn't disappear, the skills of the people don't disappear."

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Now, with inflation lingering, a seesawing stock market, and investors wondering if the latest tariff war is pushing the economy toward recession, Buffett's outlook is a sharp contrast to the panic.

The S&P 500 is down 10.4% year-to-date. The Nasdaq has fallen more than 15%. Economists are slashing growth forecasts. Headlines are loud. But Buffett's voice cuts through: "We've shown that America can't be stopped."

That's the lesson from 2008. Even when 50 million Americans held risky mortgages and fear moved "like a tsunami," the train eventually got back on track.

So, yes—there will be more crashes. More derailments. But as long as the tracks are there, Buffett's betting the train will keep moving.

And he's never bet against America.

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