GLOOM & DOOM AT DAVOS

This international economic body has lost confidence in America. The American era is passing.

But this year's Davos was positively scary. Its overwhelming message was that the world is changing in ways more unnerving than most of us have grasped.

The baby boom generation grew up during a period of unprecedented prosperity, with the expectation that life would be even better for their kids. The magnitude of the current economic crisis has undermined those expectations. "We are still in denial about how serious this is," the noted British historian Niall Ferguson said at the forum.

I believe he is right. At Davos, there was a strong sense of the passing of the American era. The widespread anger at the United States' responsibility for the crisis - the reckless mortgage lending, the complex financial instruments that few understood, the lack of regulation - was tempered by one big factor: the hope that President Obama can make a difference.

Al Gore was the most optimistic guy there! And he thinks climate change is destroying the world.