Just in time for Christmas, Warren Buffett bought himself a railroad. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, a legendary rail line that helped "open up" The Grand Canyon and now provides freight hauling services throughout the country. One of BNSF's major customers are the coal fields of Wyoming and the great ports on the West Coast. This is a bold move by Buffett, who tends to acquire companies and hold onto them for a long time rather than churn for immediate shareholder profits.
It's also, Buffett said in his press release, a statement on his bullishness about the American economy.
Perhaps. But he is also obligated to make money for his shareholders and as we begin our national conversation about how we can change our lifestyles to slow down the rate of anthropogenic enhancements to global climate change, rail transportation will begin to figure prominently into the discussions about movements of goods and services. Trains are much more efficient at hauling freight than trucks, at least for long distances.
Some commentators have said this acquisition is about real estate. A number of years ago, Burlington Northern shed it's real estate division, Plum Creek, and the Santa Fe lines also did not have extensive holdings in the checkerboard lands deeded by the Federal Government in the late 1800s as a subsidy to the railroads for their expansions across the continent.
No, this is about wheels, rails, and locomotives.
Pretty cool train set.
I rarely enjoy citing Arianna Huffington, but she nailed the economy and the dissonance between our "leaders" and the rest of us when she wrote this appeal to Warren Buffet, asking him to "put down the pom-poms" and think of real solutions to the economy.
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