Some cultures are good at gloom. Britain's stiff upper-lip is displayed to best advantage in hard times. Frugal Germany seems built to survive downturns, as its chancellor can't quite resist pointing out. On a recent visit to Moscow, Russian friends told me they would be fine because they are accustomed to surviving when everything falls apart.

But America doesn't really do down-beat. This is the country that declared the pursuit of happiness to be an inalienable right, where even in sensibly mid-western Lake Wobegon the children are above average, and whose popular president built his career on an only-in-America upwardly mobile biography.

It should come as no surprise that in the warm spring days leading up to the Easter weekend, Americans started to bet on renewal, beginning with the country's giddy enthusiasm for the new First Puppy. Mortgage applications have surged since December. Analysts say lenders are set to grant $3,000bn (€2,300bn, ￡2,040bn) in new mortgages, about the same level as at the height of the housing boom, although much of that may be refinancing to take advantage of historically low rates. The stock market is rallying, with the S&P 500 up more than 25 per cent since early March.