Yet from this immense talent pool, the American political system has managed to narrow the race down to two supremely flawed human beings, neither of whom remotely deserves to be in the White House.

On the one hand we have Hillary Clinton, a scandal-ridden, uninspiring candidate whose Left-wing policies would destroy what is left of US exceptionalism; on the other is Donald Trump, a demagogue who specialises in whipping up hate and threatening cataclysmic trade wars.

This depressing choice comes at the worst possible time for the US: the country is bitterly divided, faith in the American Dream and US constitution is receding and many would like nothing better than to shut themselves off from the world. Meanwhile, the threat of terrorism remains as high as ever.

For the prosperous parts of the East and West coasts, all is great, at least for the middle-aged and for those with Ivy League degrees; but the rest of the population is in its worst funk since the Seventies, in desperate need of a strong, competent, reformist leader who will begin to fix its economy and restore its mojo. There were problems when I first visited the US in the early Nineties, but nothing like today. It is no exaggeration to say that the very fabric of US democracy is being tested.