Update: Here is this week's column. I think Joel and I might discuss the topic further in the next podcast.

Joel and I this week tackle the question of when and whether the economy is truly Barack Obama's. I'll post the new column as soon as Scripps-Howard posts it. I say the economy became Obama's the moment he signed the stimulus bill. It's been all downhill since then.

Investor's Business Daily on Thursday details some of the problems with President Obama doling out investment advice the other day:

(W)e take issue with his comparison of the stock market to political polls, and worry he's not taking the market seriously enough. Far from being something that "bobs up and down every day," the market reflects the opinions of millions of investors and thousands of institutions who are super-sensitive to all that goes on — economically, politically and otherwise.

If I'd had the space in this week's column, I would have mentioned how Wall Street now intersects with Main Street. The fact is, many of us have lost a lot of money as our 401(k)s or other retirement savings accounts have lost half of their value. Instead, I reiterate the fairly obvious and tired truth that a president cannot do much to help the economy, but he can do plenty to hurt it.