Mr. Buffett's reputation means he often faces questions far beyond the scope of Berkshire, and that has been the case at Saturday's meeting.
Here's a sampling of his views on those bigger topics, collected through the morning:
• Whether companies are currently overvalued: Ms. Loomis asked Mr. Buffett whether a number of macroeconomic figures, including corporate profits as a percentage of gross national product, showed that companies were overvalued.
The billionaire said some of those indicators simply showed that American businesses were performing well. But he also said today's high valuations were helped by persistently low interest rates.
The current environment, he said, is one neither he nor Mr. Munger could have imagined even a few years ago. When interest rates eventually rise, he said, they will show that today's corporate valuations are probably a touch high.
• Later, Mr. Buffett expanded on his thoughts about low interest rates. While they have helped the American economy recover from the financial crisis of 2008, he expressed concern that they would lead to inflation down the road.
"It's still hard for me to see how, if you toss money from helicopters, you don't have inflation," he said.
• One shareholder initially stumped Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger by asking them for their thoughts on the United States' wariness about the formation of an Asian infrastructure investment bank led by China. (It's rare for the two to have no thoughts on a subject.)
But the investor quickly switched to a query about the dollar and its current role as a reserve currency used as a benchmark around the world. Mr. Buffett replied, "I think the dollar will be the world's reserve currency 50 years from now."
• When asked whether the government would ever deem Berkshire's vast insurance operation a "systemically important financial institution" — meaning it is too big to fail and thus subject to significant new regulations — Mr. Buffett scoffed at the prospect. Though competitors like the American International Group and MetLife have received that "systemically important" label," Berkshire has said it does not believe that its own division qualifies for the designation.
That question left room for both Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger to offer their thoughts on the state of financial regulation. Mr. Munger said he still thought danger was lurking in the industry, despite government efforts to rein in potential problems.
"I think we still have a lot of risk in high finance," he said. "The idea that Dodd-Frank removed it is nonsense."
Mr. Buffett said he thought the new rules unwisely hemmed in the government's ability to respond to another huge crisis. The ability of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department to stabilize a banking industry in crisis, he contended, was its assumption of wide-ranging powers.
"We're going to do whatever's necessary," Mr. Buffett said in describing the attitude of regulators at the time. He added, "I think Dodd-Frank weakens that, and that's a terrible thing to weaken."
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