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Ubben is describing why Buffett is has so much cash at BRK. Companies that Berkshire would normally buy are trading like high quality bonds given low interest rates and prices are bid up to a point where it's hard as a value investor to buy at a margin of safety given intrinsic.
The scarce resource is no longer capital as it was "when interest rates were 15%." The "returns accrue to those that allocate well against the scarce asset." Quiz: What's scarce today? What businesses have been doing well in this changed environment? What do they have in common?
The converse question: What businesses have been doing poorly in an age in which capital is no longer scarce? Companies that when attacked by mini-mills keep cutting and retreating to maintain Siren Call Ratios instead of investing to create new pricing power and free cash flow?
My view is the scarcest asset is people who can make decisions in the uncertain and unknown (UU) environment Zeckhauser describes. google.com/amp/s/25iq.com… Charlie Munger: "The right way to think is the way Zeckhauser plays bridge." Being in their sidecar as an investor is wise.
