The death of distance

in the US data particularly but also for example in many of the more forward-looking indicators of European economic activity that we are now in the early stages of global recovery. We cannot be sure that the early momentum will be maintained; nor do we know just how strong the expansion will prove to be or how long it will last; but the signs are promising, and indeed far more positive than any of us would have dared to hope just six months or so ago in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. As it becomes clearer that the international envi-