Warren Buffett has said the global economy is definitely slowing because of continued problems in Europe and the decline in Asia.
But the billionaire investor said the US economy is still improving modestly.
Warren Buffett said during an interview with CNBC today that the US economy is doing better than Europe, and Asian economies are declining sharply.
The head of Berkshire Hathaway said he gets a sense of the economy's direction from reports he gets from subsidiaries of the US-based conglomerate.
He also said he is feeling fine more than a month after finishing his prostate cancer treatments.
The 82-year-old chairman and and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway said that the treatments were tiring. He underwent six weeks of radiation treatments and finished them in September.
The billionaire investor disclosed his cancer diagnosis in April. Buffett has said he feels good and his cancer is not considered life-threatening because it was caught early.
In a wide-ranging interview today, Buffett also said the best thing for the economy would be for US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to stay on for a third term.
With the presidential race running neck-and-neck, there has been speculation of late that Republican candidate Mitt Romney, if elected, would seek a new Fed chairman when Bernanke's term expires in 2014. Buffett disagreed with the idea.
"I would vote for Bernanke again, and I'd get my kids out and everybody else to vote for him," he said.
He also said that he is continuing to look for a major acquisition for his Berkshire Hathaway, but he is not willing to pay more to compete with other bidders.
Buffett said Berkshire has lost out on a couple of major acquisitions in recent years because private equity firms are bidding aggressively with borrowed money. Berkshire does not borrow for acquisitions.
He said the company has about $40 billion cash on hand.
