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It has been an uncertain summer in America. Oil is settling at more than US$120 (Bt4,110) a barrel and the credit crunch seems to be putting a freeze on economic growth in what would normally be a warm Olympic summer.

I spent some time in the United States recently and, though my travels did not take me to New York City or Washington DC, the epicentres of the financial and political transformations under way, I did sample some of America's heartland. St Paul, Minnesota. Chicago. Indiana. The Midwest.

Midwesterners do not panic. They are a hearty stock accustomed to long winters - real and economic. Even as a 24/7 blizzard of dire economic data hits news channels and financial websites, Americans go on with their lives. This is the American spirit and foul economic weather cannot suppress it. So, direct from the Midwest, some economic sunshine:

A new St Paul-neighbourhood restaurant turns people away because it is full to capacity on most summer nights. Price: $75 for dinner for two.

In Bloomington, Indiana, students vie for limited seats in the freshman class at this prestigious public university. Price: $28,454 a year for four years.

A line more than 100-people long winds around the block culminating at the Chicago Apple store as enthusiasts press to be among the first to own the new 3G iPhone. Price: $199, plus a two-year service plan.

In St Louis, InBev buys American brewer Anheuser-Busch -"The King of Beers". Price: $52 billion.

In Minneapolis, the Minnesota Twins professional-baseball team comes within one game of winning first place. Priceless! (Actually, $80 for two tickets plus $5.75 for a hotdog and $4 for a Coke.)

American services, products and brands remain the most authentic and attractive in the world. Globe-trotting bargain hunters, savvy with exchange rates, have taken note - the shopping is good in the US. If someone is selling, someone is buying.

Unfortunately, just as in a real storm, there is the very real pain of lost homes, investments, jobs and plans that will take time, effort, money and compassion to rebuild. But America will invent, politicise, regulate and of course, shop its way out of this. In time …

"First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again. In a garden, growth has its season ... as long as the roots are not severed, all is well and all will be well in the garden." - Chance The Gardener (Peter Sellers) in "Being There", (1979).