Warren Buffett, the American billionaire, recently stated that he believes another pandemic is on the way, one that could be much worse than COVID-19. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, said in an interview with CNBC's Buffett & Munger: A Wealth of Wisdom that, while certain situations are controllable, the world as a whole is not prepared for mass-scale prevention. According to reports, he said,“There will be another pandemic,” says the author. There is a nuclear, chemical, biological, and now cyber threat, as we all know. Each of them has terrible consequences... It doesn't appear like society is completely prepared to deal with it.”
Buffett, who is ranked ninth on Forbes' billionaire list, went on to explain that the most important lesson he has learned from the coronavirus is that the world is not prepared to deal with emergency circumstances. He claims that society has a hard time anticipating remote circumstances that will inevitably occur sooner or later. He also expressed his thoughts on the pandemic's uneven impact and the lockdown on businesses, with smaller enterprises bearing the brunt of the damage.
COVID-19's economic consequences, according to the billionaire, are falling disproportionately. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of small enterprises have been severely harmed, he said. According to Buffett, the economic impact has been "very uneven," and most large corporations have "overwhelmingly done great." The pandemic "isn't ended," he said, but most businesses are doing well.
Furthermore, Buffett stated that the virus was "a tremendous success that they did not foresee" for the automotive sector. He noted that the chip storage industry has seen record earnings as a result of the closure and reduction in supplies. It's worth noting that, according to a CNBC article, automakers and dealers reported a huge increase in sales as a result of factory closures and global chip shortages.
Buffett even stated that he was facing financial uncertainty because no one knew what would happen to his airlines, BNSF Railway and NetJets, in terms of demand. Despite the uncertainty and upheaval, Buffett was adamant about focusing on the sector and helping other businesses stay viable so they didn't have to rely on government assistance. "We remind them that they once had a wealthy brother," the millionaire explained.