I think that BRK deployed less than $20B in 2008. So if the next GFC in 3(?) years $50B is used. What happens to the rest of the cash?

Depending on your definition of the stretch of the credit bear, it was more than that.

Some capital commitments in the broad 2008 bear era, billions, from Mr Tilson's summary:
Mars/Wrigley 6.5
Auction rate securities 6.5
Goldman 5.0
Constelletion 5.7
Marmon 4.5
General stock purchases 3.3
Dow/Rohm&Hass 3.0
GE 3.0
Fed Home Loan discount notes 2.4
Tungaloy 1.0
Swiss Re unit 0.8
ING re unit 0.4
Other businesses 3.9

Total of above $46.0 billion *
Most folks agree it would have been more but for the fact that public market prices were *really* attractive for such a short time in early 2009.

The balance sheet is now 4.25 times as big as it was then, so that would be roughly equivalent to deploying $195bn these days. If we were to see a bear in the next year or two and that much came to be deployed, I wouldn't find it unreasonably hesitant.

Jim


* That excludes BNSF agreed in 2009, whose stock price I believe was at the ~$80 target level only because of the lingering effects of the bear.

Jim