This letter left me feeling a bit empty, which I've never felt before after reading Berkshire letters. No in depth discussion of anything interesting. I actually see it as a bit of a worrying sign.
I'm speculating here, but maybe Buffett is conflicted about discussing the changes in corporate tax code in more depth given that it helps Berkshire and shareholders (himself the most, as the largest shareholder by far) at the expense of the country?
Buffet interview talking about the tax changes before they got through.
>to assign a large portion of our debt to any individual business would generally be fallacious
could fit with the dictionary definition of
>containing or involving a fallacy; illogical; erroneous
Ie. it would be illogical to say this debt belongs to this business when it is a liability of Berkshire as a whole. But yeah a little clunky perhaps.
Also re discussion of individual businesses he explains:
>For many years, this letter has described the activities of Berkshire’s many other businesses. That discussion has become both repetitious and partially duplicative of information regularly included in the 10-K that follows the letter. Consequently, this year I will give you a simple summary of our dozens of non-insurance businesses. Additional details can be found on pages K-5 – K-22 and pages K-40 – K-50.
For pages K-whathaveyou you need to go to Berkshires site and download the full annual report.
Re IBM, Buffett is a Carnegie follower and would be reluctant to say he sold because Ginni Rometty wasn't getting anywhere. (Fundamental Technique #1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influen...)