Tired of all the “nattering nabobs of negativism” who can’t find a kind word to say about the U.S. economy? Take a listen to this interview of Carlyle Group co-Chief Executive David Rubenstein.

The chiefs of the world’s two biggest private equity firms described their asset class as one of the last, best hopes available to score the kinds of returns that pension funds and even individual investors need to catch up following the financial crisis.

Warren Buffett is “in favor” of increasing the tax rate on capital gains. “I’ve operated under all kinds of tax rates, including 39.6% on capital gains,” the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. told Carlyle Group CEO David Rubenstein.

The $237 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System has reaped a 2.9x gain from its 4.2 percent stake in The Carlyle Group upon the firm’s initial public offering on Thursday, according to an exclusive analysis by Buyouts, peHUB’s sister magazine, based on a California Public Records Act request.

(Reuters) – The heads of two of the world’s most powerful private equity firms issued a dire report on the U.S. economy on Wednesday, signaling problems for political leaders and their own firms’ ability to realize profit on their portfolios.

“We never really emerged from the last recession,” Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein said at a breakfast session at Lincoln Center that also featured Blackstone Group Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman.

“It will last a few more years before we get unemployment to a level that is tolerable,” Rubenstein said.

Following are the five slideshows most popular with peHUB readers the week of April 25.

1. Slideshow: New York City Shindig Photos!

2. Slideshow: Top 10 List Shows Cleantech Becoming Dominated by Handful of Investors

3. Slideshow: Carlyle’s Rubenstein, T.H. Lee’s Sperling, AlpInvest’s Doeksen, Others Speak at Buyouts New York

4. Slideshow: The Cleantech Companies Best Positioned to Go Public

5. Slideshow: The Best Time for a VC Promotion

Thomson Reuters’ Buyouts New York conference kicked off today with a star-studded list of speakers. Among the big names on today’s bill were David Rubenstein (pictured), co-founder of The Carlyle Group, Volkert Doeksen, CEO of AlpInvest, Scott Sperling, co-president of Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Erik Hirsch, CIO of Hamilton Lane. Take a peek into [...]

In an exclusive interview at Buyouts New York, David Rubenstein, founder and chief executive of The Carlyle Group, says that China will spend the better part of this century as the world’s largest economy, making that nation an extremely attractive place to invest. But don’t count out the United States yet, he said.

In a conversation with Chrystia Freeland, Editor of Reuters Digital, Rubenstein also discussed the shifting tides of regulation, saying that with the passing of the Dodd-Frank law, the aspect that the financial community is most uneasy about is the absence of certainty as these new financial regulations get interpreted and implemented over the next few years.

Finally, Rubenstein said that in private equity’s fundraising race, sovereign wealth funds will be taking an increasing role in coming years when compared to public pension funds, which don’t have as much money to invest as they did a few years ago.