Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said the nation has been hit with an "economic Pearl Harbor," and that the government must respond quickly.

Buffett talked about the nation's ongoing financial woes in an appearance on the "Charlie Rose" show that aired Wednesday night on PBS.

The 78-year-old Buffett said that in his adult life he has never seen people as economically fearful as they are right now.

He said the nation's economic problems are already starting to be felt by furniture and jewelry stores such as the ones owned by Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

But at the same time, Buffett said he always tries to take advantage of financial crises by being greedy when others are fearful.

The current high level of fear in the markets has allowed Buffett to find several attractive deals for his company, Berkshire Hathaway.

Berkshire, based in Omaha, announced yesterday afternoon it would buy 3 billion dollars of preferred shares of General Electric Co., which carry a 10 percent dividend. The terms are similar to those Buffett struck with Goldman Sachs last week, when Berkshire invested 5 billion dollars.

Buffett says he decided to invest in GE in less than a day because he's familiar with the company and confident in its long-term prospects.

Morningstar analyst Justin Fuller said these latest deals show how shrewd and patient Buffett has been. Now Buffett is able to negotiate attractive terms for Berkshire in these deals.

Buffet predicts that the rest of the "Main Street" economy will start to have problems if the government's financial bailout plan doesn't pass soon.