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2004年股东大会 · 一家企业如果有道德风险,巴菲特是否还会投资?

33 段 · 3 位说话人 · 原片 4:22
M1
M10:01

你好。

Hello there.

我是来自 San Francisco 的 Michelangelo。

This is Michelangelo from San Francisco.

我的总体问题是,道德方面的顾虑会怎么进入你们的资产配置决策。

My general question is about how ethical concerns enter into your asset allocation decisions.

比如说,我觉得有一些很有力的理由可以说明,Classic Coke 根本就不该成为任何人饮食的一部分。

So, for example, I think there's some strong arguments that can be made that say Classic Coke should never be part of anyone's diet.

如果这样的论点成立,而且你也被说服了,这会不会改变你把 The Coca-Cola Company 视为投资组合一部分的方式?

If such an argument could be made and you were convinced of it, would that change the way that you viewed The Coca-Cola Company as part of your portfolio?
M2
M20:33

嗯,我觉得这是个根本不太会发生的假设。

Well, I think that's a hypothetical that simply wouldn't happen.

我的意思是,你知道,我一天要喝五瓶这个,也许再加上 peanut brittle 的组合,正好就起作用了,反正我感觉特别好。

I mean, I've been drinking five of them a day, you know, and maybe it's the combination of that and peanut brittle, you know, that does the job, but I just feel terrific.

有一次,我们放弃了一个买入一家利润高得惊人的公司的机会,因为 Charlie 和我见了经营那家公司的人,当然,他们本身也是很体面的人。

We passed one time on the chance to buy an extraordinarily profitable company because Charlie and I met the people that ran it, and they were perfectly decent people too.

后来我们下到和他们见面的那家酒店大堂,我们就决定,归根结底,我们不想卷进那个生意里。

And we went down in the lobby of the hotel that we met them in, and we just decided that in the end we didn't want to be involved in that.

另一方面,如果是同一家公司,以公开交易股票的形式,我是会买的。

On the other hand, I would have bought stock as a publicly traded stock in the same company.

Charlie 稍后会讲讲他对此的看法。

Charlie will give you his view on that later.

所以,对那些从事一些我自己大概不会认同的活动的公司,我买它们的股票、可交易证券,或者市场上的公司债券,我是没有问题的。

So I do not have a problem buying stock in companies, marketable securities, the bonds of companies in the market that engage in activities that I wouldn't probably endorse myself.

但如果是要直接拥有这些公司,甚至实际去指挥其中一些公司的经营活动,我就会有顾虑。

I would have trouble owning outright and actually directing the activities of some of those companies.

不过你知道,这个国家任何大型零售商,几乎都会卖香烟,比如说。

But, you know, any major retailer in this country is virtually going to be selling cigarettes, for example.

只要香烟还没有被宣布为非法,我持有这些零售商——不管是直接整个拥有它们,还是持有它们的股票——都不会让我困扰。

And if they're not declared illegal, it does not bother me to own — it would not bother me to own those retailers outright, or it does not bother me to own the stock.
M3
M32:15

对,不过你不会去买一家生产 tobacco、还策划那些广告的公司。

Yeah, but you wouldn't buy a company that made the tobacco and concocted the advertisements.
M2
M22:22

对,我们不会——至于为什么,我没法完全给你讲清楚——我是说,我不能告诉你那就是一条完美的界线,也不能精确解释为什么我把线画在那里,但我可以告诉你,我的界线就是画在那里。

No, we would — and, you know, I can't tell you perfectly why that — I mean, I can't tell you that's the perfect line, or I can't tell you precisely why that's where I draw it, but I will tell you that is where I draw it.

我们不会去做它的制造。

We would not be in the manufacture of it.

不过,呃,我们以前确实持有过 R.J. Reynolds 的股票,在它发生 LBO 之前。

But, uh, we owned stock at one time in R.J. Reynolds before it had the LBO.

我们也持有过它的债券,呃,而且你知道,如果我现在还喜欢它的债券或者股票,我还是会继续这么做。

We owned bonds in it, uh, and, you know, I would still be doing it if I liked either the bonds or the stock.

我们不会去买那个制造商本身。

We would not buy the manufacturer.

就像我说的,那次我们放弃了,你知道,我们当时还特地下到酒店去讨论这件事,所以得承认我们确实考虑过,但最后还是决定不做。

And like I say, we walked on one, you know, and we went down to the hotel to talk about it though too, so we'd have to say that we were thinking about it, but we decided not to do it.

Charlie?

Charlie?
M3
M33:12

我们也没想太久。

We didn't think very long.

我们并不声称自己有什么完美的道德标准。

We don't claim to have some kind of perfect morals.

这些界线你可以按你自己的想法来画。

You can draw these lines where you wish.

但至少,有很大一片事情,虽然完全合法,我们还是觉得不符合我们的原则,所以我们不做。

But at least we've got a huge area of things which is perfectly legal to do that we think are beneath us, so we won't do them.

而且我们在美国越来越多地看到一种文化,就是只要某件事看起来不太可能让你进监狱、而且又能赚钱,那就都算可以。

And we see more and more in America a culture where just anything that's unlikely to send you into prison, which looks like it'll make money, is okay.

这是一个非常糟糕的发展。

And that is a very bad development.
M2
M23:53

不过我个人觉得,要说人们吃 hamburger、喝 Coca-Cola、吃 candy 之类的东西很糟糕,只因为他们可能会长胖,这种说法有点荒唐。

But I think it's a little crazy myself to say that it's terrible if people eat hamburgers or drink Coca-Cola or eat candy or anything like that because they're likely to gain weight.

那完全是个自愿的选择。

That is a perfectly optional decision.

而且谁知道呢,有的人活到七十五岁,因为体重过重所以稍微早一点去世;还有的人活到八十五岁,一直靠胡萝卜和西兰花过日子,你说,到底是谁活得更开心、过得更好呢。

And who knows whether somebody has lived a happier life that lives to 75 and overweight condition causes them to die a little sooner, or they lived to 85 and lived on carrots and broccoli, you know, has lived a better life.

我知道我更喜欢哪一种。

I know which one I prefer.