Not lifting US debt ceiling would be dumb: Buffett

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has said that politicians not lifting the US debt ceiling would be pretty damn dumb and viewed a prolonged political standoff on the issue as disturbing.

The market is not going to fall apart, Buffett said in an interview aired on CNBC on Friday,because markets will only expect politicians to act irrationally for a certain length of time. Still,he called the possibility of such a debt standoff disturbing. Some Republican legislators are calling for concessions such defunding US President Barack Obamas health care law in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling. Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc owns more than 80 businesses in such areas as insurance,chemicals,railroads and clothing,and has well more than $130 billion of equity and fixed income investments.