President Barack Obama on Tuesday offered an upbeat assessment of the economy’s prospects, dismissing the decline in the stock market as a poor indicator of long-term economic strength.

“We are going to recover,— Obama said during an appearance at the White House with visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. And policy changes being made now will ensure that when the economy does recover, the United States will be more prosperous and “more protected from systemic risks,— he said.

Obama suggested that his administration is not to blame for the stock market’s decline, saying investors were reacting to the growing realization of problems in the economy that he inherited.

“We dug a very deep hole for ourselves,— Obama said in an apparent slap at the Bush administration. “We are cleaning up the mess,— he added, but it will take time.

Obama compared evaluating the economy based on the stock market to watching political tracking polls, saying it had little to do with economic performance over the long term. Offering a bit of presidential investment advise, Obama noted that profit and earnings ratios are “getting to the point where buying stocks is potentially a pretty good idea.—