Charlie Munger's Approach to Danger | CNBC's Squawk Box 2019【C:C.M 314】

Charlie Munger's Approach to Danger | CNBC's Squawk Box 2019【C:C.M 314】

 

[Transcript]

BECKY QUICK: Anything that rises to your radar screen now that may be under the radar for other people?

 

CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, nobody knows how much of this money printing we can do. And of course we have politicians who like — and are in both parties, who like to believe that it doesn’t matter how much you do. That we can ignore the whole subject and just print money as convenient. Well, that’s the way the Roman Empire behaved, then it was ruined. And that’s the way the Weimar Republic was ruined. There is a point where it’s dangerous. You know, and of course, my attitude when something is big and dangerous is to stay a long way away from it. Other people want to come as close as possible without going in. That’s too tricky for me. I don’t like it.

 

BECKY QUICK: In terms of possibly getting sucked up into it?

 

CHARLIE MUNGER: Yes. If there’s a big whirlpool in the river, I stay a long way away from it. There were a bunch of canoeists once that tried to run the Aaron Rapids. I think they were from Scandinavia. And the fact that the whirlpools were so big made them very eager to tackle this huge challenge. The death rate was 100%. I regard that as a normal result.

 

(Source: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/02/15/investing-legend-charlie-munger-on-investing-the-buyback-debate-and-much-more.html)

 

[YAPSS Takeaway]

When something is big and dangerous, stay a long way away from it.

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