M20:56
好，第一个问题我来回答。这是个很好的问题，关于商誉以及商誉在会计上的处理。
Okay, I'll take the first part. And it's a good question about goodwill and the treatment of goodwill for accounting purposes.
其实我写过这个话题，我想是在一九八三年的年报里。
I actually wrote on that subject, I think it was in 1983, in the annual report.
如果你点开 berkshirehathaway.com，你可以去看以前的股东信，里面会看到一段讨论，就是我认为商誉应该怎么处理。
And if you click onto berkshirehathaway.com, you can look at the older letters and you will see a discussion of what I think should be the way goodwill is handled.
另外，我们在 owner’s manual 里也在其他场合谈过这个问题。
And then we've discussed it at various other times in the owner's manual.
简单跟你说一下，比如在英国，商誉是立刻注销的，所以它永远不会出现在账面价值里，之后也不会再有相关费用。
To give it to you briefly, in the UK, for example, goodwill is written off instantly, so it never appears in book value, and there's no subsequent charge for it.
如果是我来制定会计规则，我会把所有收购都按 purchase 来处理，这也基本上就是我们在 Berkshire 一直以来的做法，几乎没有例外。
If I were setting the accounting rules, I would treat all acquisitions as purchases, which is what we've done virtually without exception at Berkshire.
我会把 economic goodwill 设立出来，因为当我们买 General Re 的时候，我们付的钱里面就是包含商誉的。
I would set up the economic goodwill because we are paying for goodwill when we buy a General Re.
我的意思是，我们为它付出了几十亿、几十亿美元。
I mean, we are paying billions and billions of dollars for it.
或者当我们买 GEICO，或者买 Executive Jet 的时候，我们买下来的东西，本质上就是 economic good——也就是我所说的 economic goodwill。
Or when we buy a GEICO, or when we buy an Executive Jet, that is what we are buying, is economic good— what I call economic goodwill.
我认为，它应该留在资产负债表上，因为它反映了你为买下它实际付出去的钱，但我不认为它应该被摊销。
I believe it should stay on the balance sheet as reflective of the money you've laid out to buy it, but I don't think it should be amortized.
我认为，如果它发生了永久性减值，而且很明确已经失去价值了，那就应该在那个时候把它冲销掉。
I think in cases where it is permanently impaired and clear that it's lost its value, it should be charged off at that time.
但一般来说，就我们自己的情况而言，我们现在拥有的 economic goodwill，远远超过我们当初记到账上的金额，因此更是大大超过了经过摊销之后账面上还剩下的金额。
But generally speaking, in our own case, the economic goodwill that we now have far exceeds the amount that we put on the books originally, and therefore even by a greater amount exceeds the amount that remains on the books after amortization.
我不认为对 Berkshire 所持有、附着在这些业务上的商誉计提摊销是合适的。
I do not think an amortization charge is appropriate at Berkshire for the goodwill that we have attached to our businesses.
这些业务中的大多数，它们的 economic goodwill 都增加了。
Most of those businesses have increased their economic goodwill.
有些从我们买下它们以来，增幅还非常惊人。
In some cases by dramatic amounts, since we've purchased them.
但我认为，这项成本应该放在资产负债表上。
But I think the cost ought to be on the balance sheet.
因为这显示的是我们当初为它们付了多少钱。
It's what we— it shows what we paid for them.
我觉得它应该记录在那里。
I think it should be recorded there.
我不认为即将到来的会计变革会按我这里建议的方向走，不过我确实认为，这是处理这个问题最合理的方式。
I don't think that the coming change in accounting is likely to be along the lines that I've suggested here, but I do think it's the most rational way to approach the problem.
而且我觉得，正因为 purchase accounting 和 pooling accounting 之间有这么大的差别，企业界才会做出一些非常愚蠢的事情。
And I think that because there is this great difference between purchase and pooling accounting, that some really stupid things are done in the corporate world.
我也跟一些管理者谈过，他们对自己在交易里使用股票、再通过各种操作去争取 pooling accounting 这件事很反感，因为他们觉得从经济角度看，这么做很蠢。
And I have talked to managers who deplored the fact that they were using their stock in a deal and going through some various maneuvers to get pooling accounting because they thought it was economically a dumb thing to do.
你知道，他们私下里在这件事上是很坦率的。
You know, they're very frank about that in private.
但他们公开场合就不会说这么多。
They don't say as much about it in public.