Munger is welcomed by crowds of tens of thousands each year when he takes the stage with Berkshire Chairman Warren Buffett, his longtime business partner, at the annual company meeting. Thousands have also turned up at the annual meeting of Wesco Financial Corp., a Berkshire unit where Munger is chairman.

'Exactly Wrong'

At the Michigan event, one questioner said he had attended both Berkshire and Wesco meetings. "You mean the groupies have followed me here?" Munger asked. To another who asked whether the government should have bailed out homeowners instead of Wall Street, Munger said: "You've got it exactly wrong."

"There's danger in just shoveling out money to people who say, 'My life is a little harder than it used to be,'" Munger said at the event, which was moderated by CNBC's Becky Quick. "At a certain place you've got to say to the people, 'Suck it in and cope, buddy. Suck it in and cope.'"

At the same event, Munger said private investment may advance society more than charity. He's a director at Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. warehouse-club chain, and has been Berkshire's vice chairman for more than three decades.

'A Better Place'

"I believe Costco does more for civilization than the Rockefeller Foundation," Munger said. "I think it's a better place. You get a bunch of very intelligent people sitting around trying to do good, I immediately get kind of suspicious and squirm in my seat."

Charitable donations by Munger have aided California institutions including Stanford University, the Harvard-Westlake School and the Huntington Library. He is chairman of Good Samaritan Hospital of Los Angeles and gave $3 million to the University of Michigan's law school to improve lighting.

Buffett, 80, has praised U.S. policymakers for the financial company bailouts. The world's third-richest person, who oversees businesses selling insurance, candy and recreational vehicles, told Berkshire shareholders last year that the U.S. needs a stable financial system.

"Like it or not, the inhabitants of Wall Street, Main Street and the various Side Streets of America were all in the same boat," Buffett said in the letter accompanying Berkshire's 2008 annual report. "Whatever the downsides may be, strong and immediate action by government was essential," he said in the letter, published in February 2009.