Now 87, Mr Buffett wields huge influence over US business and finance, usually positive. He pushed companies to expense stock options, warned of danger in derivatives and taught the public to invest long term in low-cost index funds. But however much you admire the man, his influence has a dark side because the beating heart of Buffettism, celebrated in a thousand investment books, is to avoid competition and minimise capital investment in the real economy.
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Mr Buffett is completely honest about his desire to reduce competition. He just calls it by a folksy name — "widening the moat". "I don't want a business that's easy for competitors. I want a business with a moat around it with a very valuable castle in the middle," he said in 2007.
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His concept of a moat is linked to his views on capital investment: the beauty of one is you do not need the other. One of his most celebrated purchases is See's Candies, a company he bought for $25m in 1972. Every year, Mr Buffett raised prices. So strong was its brand that despite sales growing little, profits grew mightily, with barely any need for capital investment. "The ideal business is one that takes no capital, and yet grows," he said last year.