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Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) Vice Chairman Charlie Munger on Saturday declared progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) the victor in the nation's political fight over income inequality. The hot economy and loose monetary policy will end up narrowing the nation's wealth gap, Munger predicted.
"With everything boomed up so high and interest rates so low, what's going to happen is the millennial generation is going to have a hell of a time getting rich compared to our generation," Munger says.
"The difference between the rich and the poor in the generation that's rising is going to be a lot less," he adds. "So Bernie has won."
"He did it by accident, but he won," Munger says.
President Joe Biden enacted a $1.9 trillion stimulus in March, and is pursuing nearly $4 trillion in additional spending to improve the nation's infrastructure and provide further support for U.S. households. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates near zero to help spur economic growth.
Speaking with NBC News, Sanders praised Biden for recognizing "the enormous crises facing this country and the degree to which people have been suffering as a result of a pandemic."
'The people screaming about it are idiots'
The remarks from Munger about Sanders contrast with critical comments Munger made in 2019 about two other progressive leaders: Queens Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Munger questioned the severity of income and wealth inequality, belittling the intelligence of politicians like Ocasio-Cortez and Warren who have drawn attention to the issue.
"I don't think [Ocasio-Cortez] knows who Adam Smith was,” Munger told Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer. “The people screaming about it are idiots. It’s going to go away by itself."
It’s “a problem if enough politicians are screaming about it. That makes it a problem," he adds.
Biden has taken a number of steps to reduce income inequality. In a primetime speech to Congress on Wednesday, Biden called on corporate America to pay its "fair share," referring to a tax hike embedded in his $2 trillion infrastructure proposal that would raise the rate for corporations from 21% to 28%.
Plus, Biden proposed tax hikes on the wealthy that would pay for his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, which includes universal pre-school, two years of free community college, and a host of other initiatives.
Those measures would come on top of the recent $1.9 stimulus bill, which provided $1400 checks to many Americans and provided a $300 federal supplement to weekly jobless benefits, among other measures.