This is a major decision — the acrimony of the political debate might just be commensurate with the momentous decisions ahead, rather than a sign of the American hegemony that for Germans always seems to be lurking just around the corner. Why are Europeans (and perhaps Germans in particular) so reluctant to accept that such debates might take years and possibly several elections to be decided? However alien — if not dysfunctional — it may look from Europe, the US constitution was designed to make it difficult for anyone to change the country easily or quickly. The message of the op-ed pieces in Germany is that a) America must get its house in order and do so fast, and b) should stop being so full of itself. Can you have it both ways? Such a mismatch in expectations is bound to produce tensions.

Perhaps on this side of the Atlantic we have to learn to deal with the gnawing realisation that not only Europe but also America could face fundamental economic problems for years to come. The budget ceiling crisis and the market jitters that followed did not amount to a crash, only to shaken confidence. "The emperor is wearing clothes, but they're Speedos," the Financial Times commented. This ironical attitude seems far more productive than the sour tone of pessimism that has become the hallmark of German feeling towards America.

A thought occurred to me as I strolled through downtown Manhattan towards Wall Street, the scene of the 1929 crash that plunged the world into the Great Depression. In those dark days, Americans eventually overcame their fear; as President Roosevelt said in his 1933 inaugural address, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." In Germany, by contrast, angst triumphed in the shape of dictatorship, with disastrous consequences for the whole of Europe. Shouldn't Europeans, even now, be wary of sneering at America?