“What I’m looking at is not the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market, but the long-term ability for the United States and the entire world economy to regain its footing. And, you know, the stock market is sort of like a tracking poll in politics. You know, it bobs up and down day to day. And if you spend all your time worrying about that, then you’re probably going to get the long-term strategy wrong.”

Where to begin? First of all, the markets are not like a tracking poll, which tracks people’s opinions (that is, something largely worthless), but rather a reflection of what real people with a real money stake are doing.

Second, I don’t know what Barry thinks a ‘bob’ is – the markets’ trends have been clearly downward since he was elected. Not much bobbing and weaving there.