OMAHA — Billionaire Warren Buffett said Saturday that the U.S. government is generally taking the right actions to help the economy recover, and it should be given some benefit of the doubt because officials have been reacting in the middle of a crisis.
The state of the economy was one of the first things addressed at Saturday’s day-long Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders meeting.
Roughly 35,000 people packed an arena and overflow rooms to listen to Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger answer questions.
Buffett said he can’t predict how quickly the economy and the markets will improve. He said last fall that the U.S. was facing an “economic Pearl Harbor.”
Also at the meeting, Buffett:
• Refused to name the people who will become Berkshire’s next chief executive and chief investment officer. He received several succession questions.
• Said Berkshire will report a roughly 10 percent drop in its first-quarter operating profit this week. But full details, including Berkshire’s net income, won’t be available until Friday when the company releases its earnings report.
