Even basket-case Indonesia managed 0.3% growth in 1999 and could expand 3.8% this year, according to London's Consensus Economics poll (see report page 62).
"Like the poll tax, it is a big change being forced through too fast and, like the poll tax, there is not a consensus of support behind it, " he concluded.
The consensus was that "local issues" dominated the poll and there was no national message - even though Gordon Brown had put his personal stamp on candidate Catherine Stihler's campaign.
What the White House's distress over the Post's poll shows, however, is that today - with a domestic consensus now backing Netanyahu against Obama - Netanyahu has less call to minimize the breach than Obama does.