Innovation and productivity are the two things that will improve the economy, businessman Warren Buffett told Politico in an article published Thursday.
"Productivity — that's the way the human race improves," Buffett said to Politico's Daniel Lippman and Jake Sherman.
Buffett homed in on the intersection between productivity and technology, or anything that improves "what people want to do with the 24 hours in the day," from innovation at the dentist's office to the assembly line to the farm, Politico reported.
The "staggering" pace of real output that's happened in America may have set expectations a little high for real GDP growth, Buffett said. At 2 percent, GDP growth "doesn't match our best years, but it's pretty damn good," he said in Politico's article.
Buffett's comments come as U.S. nonfarm productivity fell unexpectedly for the third consecutive quarter, according to a separate report on Tuesday. It marked the fastest pace of decline in three years.