Warren Buffett: I'm backing America

The American economy will rise again, says investment legend Warren Buffett. But in the meantime, the slump is providing rich pickings for Berkshire Hathaway.

Forget all the trash talk about America's glory days being over - Warren Buffett is talking up the USA. One of the world's most successful investors, whose vehicle Berkshire Hathaway has delivered a 20.2% compound annual return since 1965, Buffett reckons that once the housing market revives, the US economy will follow suit.

Meanwhile, Berkshire, which owns reinsurer General Re, Fruit of the Loom and International Dairy Queen, as well as stakes in American Express, Coca-Cola and energy company Conoco-Phillips, is making record numbers of US investments, ensuring that when the recovery arrives, shareholders will reap the rewards.

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Piper Terrett is a financial journalist and author. Piper graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge, in 1997 and worked for Germaine Greer and for Adam Faith’s Money Channel before embarking on a career in business journalism. 

She has worked for most top financial titles, including Investors Chronicle, Shares magazine, Yahoo! Finance and MSN Money. She lectures part-time at London Metropolitan University and is the author of four books.