Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Charlie Munger said at a conference Friday that markets are wildly overvalued in place and the current environment is “even crazier” than the dotcom boom of the late 1990s, Which later caused a stir.
“I consider this era to be even more insane than the dotcom era,” Munger, 97, told The Australian Financial Review at the Sohn conference in Sydney.
Munger also stated that he does not wish cryptocurrencies to exist, and praised China for taking action to ban their use, according to the AFR.
“I wish they were never invented,” he said. “And again I admire the Chinese, I think they made the right decision, which was to ban them. In my country, the English-speaking civilization made the wrong decision, I stand to participate in these crazy booms Can’t be, one way or another.”
The S&P 500 index has more than doubled since the pandemic lows in March last year, while bitcoin is up more than 1000%. According to data from Bank of America Corp and EPFR Global, investors have put in about $900 billion in equity funds in 2021 — more than the total for the past 19 years.
US stock market valuations are now higher than they were before the health crisis-induced stir, and investors are panicking. Rising inflation is forcing central banks to tighten monetary policy, threatening to ease the liquidity tailwind that has lifted a wide range of assets.
China relations
The veteran investor also took note of China’s global ties, urging Australia to play a role in bridging differences between the Asian nation and the US.
“I think Australia can be in a constructive position with its deep involvement in China, Australia can encourage the US and China to be more reasonable,” he said.
Munger, who was speaking after Berkshire’s cash pile hit new heights in the fund’s $149.2 billion in the third quarter, also said he remains bullish on renewable energy.
“I love the fact that we are rapidly reducing the burning of coal and the burning of gasoline and diesel,” he said. “I think this is a smart thing for the world and it will be smart, even if there is no global warming.”
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.
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