| Famed investor Warren Buffett, one of the richest | | | | partly upon Buffet's expectation of increased demand |
| people in the world, announced that his investment firm | | | | from China for American resources, and thus |
| Berkshire Hathaway will purchase Burlington Northern | | | | inflationary pressures. |
| Santa Fe (symbol BNI), the second largest railway in | | | | Most of Burlington's track lines head westward, |
| the United States, for an estimated $34 billion. | | | | crossing upper resource rich regions (timber, coal, etc.) |
| Burlington Northern owns more than 20,000 miles of | | | | like Montana, Seattle and Vancouver. The tracks end |
| track in the United States and Canada, and saw | | | | in ports shipping most of their goods to and from Asia, |
| earnings jump more than 25% last year. Berkshire | | | | especially China and India. This in effect means that |
| Hathaway already owns 22% of BNSF. | | | | Buffet's "bet on America" is a bet that the United |
| An analysis of the deal by pundits has some heads | | | | States will be importing more manufactured goods |
| scratching. A inflation rate factor seasonal chart of | | | | from these regions into the country and selling more |
| Bulington Northern shows that the stock price most | | | | and more of its raw materials, unfinished goods and |
| steadily rises during periods of slowing inflation rates, | | | | natural resources rather than manufactured goods to |
| rather than rising, but the deal seems to be made | | | | the growing Asia region dominated by China. |