Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger & Bill Gates - 51st Berkshire Shareholder Meeting 2016 CNBC

51st annual meeting featured first webcast via Yahoo. Attendance ~40K, down ~10% from record 45K. NFM sold $9.3M in one day. Many subsidiary companies set sales records despite lower attendance.

Wrong president can't permanently damage economy. 44 presidents, not all geniuses, but country moved forward. No need to make America great again - already greater than ever. 20th century: Dow 66→11,400 despite wars/depression. Kids will live better even with three bad presidents.

Never seen anything like 2016 primaries in both parties. Sanders 3%→50%, Trump from nowhere. Great protest vote. 2008-09: homes/stocks tanked, no jail, Wall Street/rich continued. Forbes 400 record wealth while decent citizens struggle. Feel system rigged against them.

Walmart online $12-14B vs Amazon gaining that annually. Just as Sears underestimated Walton with pickup truck, retailers underestimated Amazon. Both came under radar. Walmart now tightening supplier terms in response. Berkshire said yes. Reputation for toughness actually false.

Few in 2009 dreamt 7+ years of low rates. Different world when euros better under mattress. Fed doing good job backing off. Europe's troubles affecting US policy. Hypothetical: zero rates 50 years → Dow 100,000. Stock valuation depends entirely on rates.

Munger: If on American Express board, would have made opposite decision. Costco so powerful, being only card provider so valuable they should have thrown away rule book.

Neither privacy nor security absolute. World more dangerous, people want to inflict damage. Don't want fishing but need fast access. High-level person (AG/President) requests should go to judge promptly. Munger more extreme: government needs huge power with simple/quick terrorism procedures.

Gates agrees on earned income credit. With automation, paying above market keeps employment high. Capital/labor taxes should be same, more progressive. Math requires raising taxes for government promises. Munger: McDonald's better than Harvard for marginal youth. Minimum wage prevents employment - asinine.