Your instinct is partially correct — and Buffett himself agrees with you. But the full answer is more interesting than a simple yes or no.
At the 1997 Berkshire AGM, Buffett and Munger were asked about capital gains tax. Buffett's answer turned into one of the most honest self-assessments any billionaire has ever made. His exact words, on record:
He goes further. At University of Florida in 1998, he said that if all of humanity were stranded on a desert island, his skill of capital allocation would be completely worthless. He would just be "some animal's lunch" — Bill Gates's words, which Buffett quoted laughingly. His talent only pays off in a specific economic system that was designed for it.
It was not just "being American." Several very specific structural factors compounded his returns in ways that would have been harder or slower elsewhere.
Buffett's entire model depends on minority shareholders being protected. If you buy 7% of Coca-Cola, you trust that the other 93% cannot dilute you, steal assets, or ignore your rights. The US had the world's strongest shareholder protection laws. Without this, intrinsic value analysis is meaningless — a cheap stock stays cheap forever if insiders can extract value without accountability.
Buffett started investing in 1942. The US economy grew continuously — through wars, recessions, inflation — but always recovered and expanded. GDP per capita, corporate earnings, and equity markets all compounded at extraordinary rates from 1945–2024. Buffett himself credits this: "I have been a huge beneficiary of America's economic growth." A value investor in a stagnant or contracting economy earns far less even if every investment thesis is correct.
Buffett could deploy hundreds of billions into public equities without moving prices significantly — and find thousands of businesses to analyse. He could also buy entire private companies because the deal infrastructure — legal, banking, accounting — was mature. In 1960s India, the BSE had 150 listed companies. The US had thousands. The opportunity set was simply larger.
Berkshire's structural edge is insurance float — and the US has the world's largest insurance market. GEICO alone insures tens of millions of Americans. This float model — collecting premiums and investing them before paying claims — generated Buffett's compounding engine. The float only works at scale, and scale required the US market size.
Buffett started his partnership in 1956 — just as post-war American consumerism exploded, creating the very moat businesses he loved: Coca-Cola, American Express, Washington Post. He rode the greatest economic boom in human history at exactly the right age. Starting in 1930 in a depression, buying cheap assets, then holding through 70 years of expansion — timing of birth compounded everything.
If the Buffett approach only works in America, then no one using the same principles in another country should produce extraordinary returns. The data says otherwise.
Started in 1985 with ₹5,000. Died in 2022 worth approximately ₹50,000 crore (~$6 billion). Applied value investing principles — moat businesses, long holding periods, patient capital, qualitative business analysis.
His best single investment: Titan Company. Bought in 1987 at ~₹3 per share (adjusted). Held for 35 years. Titan became one of India's greatest consumer brand compounders — exactly the kind of moat business Buffett would have identified. The same framework. Different country. Higher returns.
Buffett has said repeatedly that his best investment opportunities came in the 1950s–70s when America was growing rapidly and markets were less efficient. Consider what India looks like today against those same criteria: