[When things are falling apart] Only one counterforce was available, and that was you, Uncle Sam. Yes, you are often clumsy, even inept. But when businesses and people worldwide race to get liquid, you are the only party with the resources to take the other side of the transaction. And when our citizens are losing trust by the hour in institutions they once revered, only you can restore calm.
I am glad that Buffett is congratulating the government officials for their actions, even though they created a whole lot of other mess (eg: moral hazards, etc.). But I am not sure if anyone else would have done any better. You just have to look at the current debt squabble in the EU to see just how slow bureaucracies can be, even when they are trying to be fast.
Full letter appeared in the op-ed area in the New York Times.
