GROWTH figures out this week are distinctly underwhelming. Nevertheless, I’m impressed by the half a million jobs created in the private sector this year. They’re needed to power us out of the deepest recession in living memory and support the general thrust of the coalition government’s approach to the economy and the deficit that threatens it.

Nevertheless, as MPs pack up and head for the beach (metaphorically I can assure you), the news from across the pond isn’t good. In fact it’s very bad indeed. I’m congratulating myself on opting for a ‘staycation’ since, by my reckoning, there’s a pretty good chance of Parliament being recalled in August. If it is, it won’t be to hurl abuse at the embattled Murdoch family but to discuss the issue which really does stand to discombobulate my constituents, the economy. With American poised on the brink of default, one wonders how a president swept to office on such a wave of goodwill could end up disappointing so badly. It is difficult not to draw parallels with our own messianic Tony Blair as we survey a shattered economy and nothing to show for bold promises of welfare state reform. As things stand, it looks like Obama is heading towards one-term-wonder obscurity even if rescheduling debt over the next few days delays the crunch a bit. Mr President’s first duty is to protect the US (not forgetting those of us afforded shelter by Uncle Sam’s big umbrella) from existential threats - economic as well as military. He’s making a pretty poor fist of it.

n It is difficult to know what to make of the hideous events in Norway. The National Security Council will be calculating the risk posed by far right nutters in the UK and building a response.

Hitherto we’ve mainly been exercised by Irish republican and fundamentalist terror. How unwise for talking heads to suggest as the news broke that Al Qaeda was to blame. As Anders Breivik emerged from under his stone, we learnt how wrong “experts” can be.