OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO WarrenBuffett said Thursday Congress is playing a dangerous game byconsidering not raising the U.S. debt ceiling.

The billionaire investor said on the cable TV network CNBC thatthere is no way to tell what might happen if the debt limit is notincreased, but it's a dangerous idea.

Buffett compared the debate over raising the debt limit to agame of "Russian roulette" with one bullet in a revolver.

He said refusing five times out of six to raise the debt limitmight not be dangerous, but the sixth time could have catastrophicconsequences.

"You're playing with fire when you don't need to play withfire," he said. Buffett was in Sun Valley, Idaho, attending theannual conference hosted by investment banker Allen & Co. thatattracts Wall Street and media moguls.

Congressional leaders from both political parties were scheduledto visit the White House on Thursday to talk about cutting thedeficit, so a deal can be made to raise the debt limit and avoid afirst-ever default on U.S. financial commitments.

Buffett said Congress raised the debt ceiling seven times duringPresident George W. Bush's administration, so it would be silly notto do so now. If America does run up against its debt ceiling,Buffett said the roughly $4 billion the government spends each daywill be missed.

"We don't need to tell the rest of the world that anytime peoplein Congress start throwing a tantrum that we're not going to payour bills," Buffett said.

Berkshire Hathaway's top executive said he believes the globaleconomy has continued to improve slowly since the fall of 2009based on the reports he receives from all of his Omaha-basedcompany's subsidiaries.

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"Business has been getting better consistently in nearly everyarea except construction," Buffett said.

But Buffett said recent efforts to help Greece avoid defaulthave not solved Europe's financial problems. He said it's clearthat Europe still has lingering problems because the bonds issuedby the 17 countries that use the euro currency offer significantlydifferent yields.

"The Greek situation and the European situation is not solved,"Buffett said. "They've got real problems in Europe. That doesn'tmean they can't surmount them."

He said there is a lot of work to do to save the euro because acouple countries are dragging down the rest of Europe.

Berkshire owns roughly 80 subsidiaries, including railroad,clothing, furniture and jewelry firms, butits insurance and utility businesses typicallyaccount for more than half of the company's net income. It also hasmajor investments in such companies as Coca-Cola Co. and WellsFargo & Co.