What made Warren Buffett rich is making us all poorer

What made Warren Buffett rich is making us all poorer

Sky-high gas prices are surfacing memories of a bygone era — the 1970s — defined by bellbottoms, disco music and (you guessed it) gas lines.

Modern motorists might pine for the prospect of 50-cent a gallon unleaded gas that the decade averaged, but don't compare that to the $4-plus a gallon we're shelling out ($5 in California! today. For a true apples-to-apples price comparison, it's worth reviewing a concept that not only made Warren Buffett fabulously rich — but also makes us all a bit poorer.

"My life has been a product of compound interest," Warren Buffett once famously said. What worked investment-wise for the Oracle of Omaha over three quarters of a century also works in reverse with rising prices.