Warren Buffett is now officially the world’s richest man, and he’s so powerful, so respected (and a friend of Bill Gates), that his buying a $5 billion stake in Goldman Sachs was considered crucial in averting a deeper national financial crisis than the hole we’re now in. And another thing: The 78-year-old Omaha investor is into polyamory, having lived openly for three decades with his girlfriend while remaining married to his wife. See—one’s private sexual peccadilloes have nothing to do with ethics and morals, a good lesson for the GOP to remember. Our economic hard times are also a good publishing moment for biographer Alice Schroeder, who got her subject to cooperate with her for The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life (Bantam, $35). She’s an MBA and former Morgan Stanley analyst, so she ought to be able to explain Buffett’s investment acumen—which, of course, involves holding value stocks long-term. And now’s certainly a good time for bargain shopping on Wall Street. Assuming you’ve got any money left to invest. Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., 386-4636, www.spl.org. Free. Noon. BRIAN MILLER

Fri., Oct. 17, noon, 2008