That all-American ''can-do'' approach seems to be missing from the voices of Californians and their President. My friends were stunned when I told them the Australian economy is doing well, that we missed the worst effects of the global financial crisis and the Sydney house prices went up 20 per cent last year.
For once their American myopia disappeared. They began asking me about Australia: Can we migrate there? Can we get jobs there?
I suspect things will turn around as a matter of course, though I find it hard to believe the US will return to the same levels of prosperity it has enjoyed in the past...