your parents can pay for you, great. If someone gave you a scholarship, amazing. And if you have to work, then nothing can be done, you have to work.

Question: I heard that there is a Buffett Prize at Berkshire Hathaway. Could you explain what it is? Why did she appear?

Answer: Some people think that the company will do as well in the future as it has in the past. Imagine that a 13-year-old horse enters the treadmill, which showed excellent results in his youth. You bet on it, relying on your knowledge of history. I don't думаю, что это можно называть премией, но это только мое мнение.

Question: Mr. Buffett, I live in Los Angeles. WITHчитается, что это ужасное место. However, I was visiting my grandmother in Omaha and learned that the per capita crime rate there is even higher than in my city. I don't знаю, стояла ли эта проблема так остро в 1950–1960-х гг., но я бы хотел услышать о ваших идеях, связанных с политикой и личным благосостоянием. WITHкажите, мы можем вернуться к экономическим вопросам, не опасаясь, что нас убьют по пути в супермаркет?

Answer: I don't вполне согласен с вашим утверждением, но и не отрицаю его. It is very difficult to compare crime statistics in different cities because it depends on what counts as a city. For example, you need to decide how much of the population of a standard urban statistical area belongs to the city.

Unfortunately, I do not know good and fast ways to fight crime. It seems to me that there is one very important measure - if it is not taken, the situation will get much worse - namely, I propose to provide a system of public schools. I think it's important to ensure that everyone starts from the same starting position.

WITHейчас это невозможно. My children have many advantages that children from poor families never dreamed of. This is a terrible disparity. In addition, everyone has different abilities. Children live in different conditions. But they should not have differences in the education that society provides.

It seems to me that the shortcomings of the public school system are one of the main causes of social problems. If I could do one thing, if I had a magic wand, I would try to figure out how to organize good public schools. And then people would have no reason other than religious reasons to send their children to private schools.

Private schools should not be the only place to get a good education. But I know that the level of education in public schools in Los Angeles, at least in many of them, has changed for the worse. Some of my friends are praising the public school system. But they send their children to private schools, just like our legislators in Washington. I don't think any congressional kids go to public schools. WITHорок лет назад я учился в общеобразовательной школе в Вашингтоне. It was just an excellent school attended by at least half a dozen children of senators and congressmen. WITHегодня учащиеся государственных школ в Вашингтоне не имеют тех возможностей, которыми располагают дети из частных школ. They were forced to end up in second-class schools. I don't знаю, как легко и быстро решить эту проблему.

I have been doing business and investing for a long time, and I understand something in my business. But this does not mean that I am also well versed in modern social problems. One of the problems with philanthropy that my foundation's trustees will have to deal with is that in business I do relatively easy tasks. I'm just waiting for good deals. I don't have to choose from thousands of different companies. We just need to understand whether people will continue to buy drinks under the Coca-Cola brand in the future.

Production and sale of soft drinks help to earn a lot of money. In charity and public affairs, it is exactly the opposite. Tangled problems that have been piling up for decades literally pounce on you. That's why I sympathize with politicians: they solve the most difficult problems. They unravel the tangles they couldn't handle last year, the year before, and the year before.

As for charity, after my death, the foundation will look for ways to solve very important problems, and I wish them good luck. I understand how important the requests they will be receiving and how scary decisions are, and I wish them all the best. If the foundation gets into trouble, wherever I am, I won't get angry at its staff.

Question: Mr. Buffett, tell me how did you start? And how did you overcome failures, if you had them?

Answer: WITH what did I start? WITHложно сказать. I first bought shares when I was 11 years old, but thoughts about this came to me much earlier. My father worked in an investment bank. Я приходил в его кабинет в старом здании Национального банка в Омахе, когда мне было семь или восемь years. I learned about my myopia because I could not read the quotes on the table. Otherwise, I probably would have lived my whole life without glasses. All this interested me very much. I started reading investment books when I was eight or nine years old, and in 1942 I finally saved enough money to buy three shares of Cities Service Preferred for $114. After that, I just kept buying corporate stock.

What is failure? It all depends on what is meant by this word. Life doesn't always turn out the way we want it to, but that doesn't always mean we've failed. I never look back and try to learn from what I see around. I don't анализирую свои прошлые решения, пытаясь выяснить, в чем крылась ошибка. I don't think about it at all. You can make many mistakes. I have good news for you: even if this happens, you will still succeed. Inspiring, right? I list my mistakes in the company's annual report. You know, in нем есть раздел под названием «Последняя ошибка». But usually I talk about a few misses.

Mistake is not the end of the world. The main thing is not to make fatal mistakes. For example, you should not buy securities with borrowed money, because this will lead to big trouble. I have never borrowed significant amounts because I don't want to go back. Debt exacerbates your mistakes, increases them several times, and this can destroy you. But it's not that bad to be wrong. The main thing is to do what you are good at.

This is the secret of my success. Sometimes I can make a mistake, because it seems to me that I understand something, but in fact I don’t. Sometimes, on the contrary, I reject what I can understand. However, these are not errors, but rather blunders. But some of them have cost us over a billion dollars. I mean cases where I knew enough to take appropriate action, but for some reason did nothing. Luckily, the public is unaware of this.

Question: Mr. Buffett, you are the richest man in America. WITHкажите, какая у вас сейчас цель?

Answer: At the annual meeting of shareholders, I announced that now my goal is to become the oldest person in America. I dream of this being talked about at my funeral. I imagine someone exclaiming: “My God, he lived to an advanced age!” I just want to keep doing my thing for as long as possible. I have no desire to succeed in golf. I know it takes a lot of time, but I always miss it. Golf doesn't interest me. Honestly, nothing can bring me more pleasure than what I'm doing now. My main goal is to stay healthy so that I can continue doing what I am doing now.

Question: I have two questions. First, what do you think about the future of the two-party system in America? And second, what do you think of Colin Powell's candidacy in the 1996 presidential election?

Answer: Ну, как вы знаете, вопрос о принадлежности и лояльности партии претерпел значительные изменения. I'm probably a typical case. Sometimes I register as a Democrat, sometimes as a Republican, without really thinking about it. Believe me, no party discipline and loyalty will force me to vote for someone who, in my opinion, is inferior to another candidate. I think this is largely due to the work of television. I guess партии продолжат существовать. WITHомневаюсь, что они исчезнут или разделятся на несколько не столь крупных.

I have nothing bad to say about Colin Powell. I don't знаком с ним. But this is undoubtedly an outstanding person. If he starts expressing his opinion on various issues, his popularity will decrease. That is the nature of politics. When you report what you support or protest against, part of the public turns away from you. But I'm sure C. Powell is a wonderful person. Frankly, I do not know what opinion he holds on many issues. I guess в следующем году он сообщит нам об этом.

Question: Mr. Buffett, you said that well-to-do people are indebted to society. I respect your point of view. I just wanted to know how you value your cash debt?

Answer: Я действительно думаю, что материальные блага по большей части принадлежат обществу. It is indecent to consume material goods and allow relatives to do so just because I make good money. We live in a market economy.

If you are good at playing baseball or golf, if you can do what I do, if you have some other talent, then the market will pay you to use it. Athletes are now paid much more than they were 25 years ago, because stadiums used to hold no more than