Investor Warren Buffett says the United States' economy is in better shape than the presidential candidates make it seem.

Buffett said Saturday in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that any baby born in the country today will live better than their parents, even with the current slow economic growth.

"It's an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country's problems (which, of course, only they can solve)," he writes. "As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans now believe that their children will not live as well as they themselves do.

"That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history."

"During presidential elections where no incumbent is running, both sides who are running for president always say they are the ones to solve the nation's problems and point out what those problems are," Bill Smead, who invests $2.1 billion at Smead Capital Management in Seattle, told Reuters.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who won New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's endorsement on Friday, has offered a bleak assessment of the economy, repeatedly saying it is in a "bubble" that he hopes will pop before he takes office.

"I don't want to inherit all this stuff," Trump has said.

In his letter, Buffett notes that there will still be economic disruption and pain along the way as business evolves, but that the country needs to make sure it has a solid safety net to help people who lose jobs.

Buffett pointed out that change also creates challenges for Berkshire's businesses. For instance, its BNSF railroad is certain to haul less coal in the future and Geico insurance could be hurt by driverless cars.

He assured shareholders that Berkshire's businesses will adapt.

Material from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.