Warren Buffett said today the US government is taking the correct actions to help the economy recover. "The government is doing the right things," Buffett said before the opening of Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting. "They're acting in a countercyclical manner." But he said he can't predict how quickly the economy and the markets will improve.
The economy, succession at the top of Berkshire, and the state of the company, which last year had its worst year since Buffett took over in 1965, were on the minds of many shareholders. Despite Berkshire's rough year—which was depressed by unrealized multibillion-dollar derivative losses—the company still outpaced the market index Buffett uses as a measuring stick. “I hope he's as good at picking a successor as he is at stocks," one shareholder said. (More Obama administration stories.)