Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said investors should bet on the "natural juices" of capitalism in the U.S. even as lawmakers struggle to narrow the budget deficit.

People tend to "focus too much on what the government's done, and to give them either credit or blame," Buffett said in aninterview conducted by the chief executive officer of Business Wire, the Berkshire subsidiary that distributes press releases. "The real credit belongs to our system."

And from the conclusion:

"We went from a wooded land to an incredible, absolute abundance of riches" because the U.S. has had a system that can "unleash human potential," he said. "Never bet against what humans can accomplish if they're operating in the right soil. And we have the right soil."

David Fuller's view He is right but the same can be said for a number of other countries over the centuries, mostly from Europe. However, every one of these other nations was severely damaged by wars, as were the Asian powers.

In contrast, the USA was never similarly damaged by wars, although it has been engaged in plenty of them. It won its Revolutionary War and the industrialising North won the Civil War. Continental USA was never seriously attacked during the two World Wars, or during any of the subsequent smaller wars, some of which continue today.