The escalating US-Iran conflict has rattled global financial markets, triggering volatility across equities and commodities. In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen more than 4% in March 2026 so far as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East intensified.
The shockwaves of the US-Iran war have also reached Indian stock markets, where the benchmark Nifty 50 index has slipped nearly 4% this month amid concerns over rising crude oil prices and the broader economic fallout of the conflict.
Periods of geopolitical turmoil typically push investors toward safer assets such as cash, gold, or government bonds. Risk appetite tends to shrink as uncertainty rises, and equity markets often witness heavy selling. However, legendary investor Warren Buffett has long argued that such moments of fear should not necessarily drive investors away from stocks.
A resurfaced video clip from a 2014 interview with CNBC highlights Buffett’s contrarian view on investing during periods of extreme uncertainty. In the interview, Buffett was asked whether scenarios such as a potential World War III or a renewed Cold War would affect his investment decisions.
His response was unequivocal: even in such a situation, he would continue buying stocks.
Buffett explained that investors inevitably have to allocate their money somewhere over time. Historically, major wars and crises have often eroded the value of currencies due to inflation and large-scale government spending. As a result, simply holding cash may not be the safest strategy in the long run.
“If you tell me all of that’s going to happen, I will still be buying stocks,” Buffett said during the interview. He pointed out that in times of major conflict, the purchasing power of money tends to decline. “The one thing you could be quite sure of is if we went into some very major war, the value of money would go down,” he said, adding that this pattern has played out in virtually every major war.
Own Productive Assets
Instead of holding cash, Buffett suggested that investors should focus on owning productive assets — assets that can generate value and income over time. These could include businesses, farmland, real estate, or equities.
“The last thing you’d want to do is hold money during a war,” Buffett noted. “You might want to own a farm, you might want to own an apartment house, you might want to own securities.”
Buffett also cited historical precedent to support his argument. During World War II, despite massive global destruction and uncertainty, stock markets eventually moved higher as economies recovered and businesses continued to grow.
His broader point was that while short-term market reactions can be volatile during geopolitical crises, the long-term trajectory of productive assets tends to remain upward. Over decades, businesses expand, economies innovate, and corporate profits grow — factors that ultimately drive stock market gains.
Buffett summed up his philosophy by emphasising the importance of owning a “piece of the economy” rather than holding idle cash that gradually loses value due to inflation.
Over the long run, he believes investors are far better off owning productive assets than holding “pieces of paper” that steadily decline in purchasing power.
In times of global uncertainty, Buffett’s message remains clear: fear may shake markets in the short term, but long-term wealth is built by staying invested in assets that create real economic value.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
