Recession lessons (10)"Longterm, American business is a very good place to be, but sometimes the machine gets gummed up, and people get afraid. Fear is contagious: it takes five minutes to become fearful, and a lot longer to regain confidence. One lesson to be learned is that leverage is a lot of fun on the way up, but we need to err on the safe side next time around." Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, Omaha, 09.03.2009.