finally, if you thought american debt was worthless, think again. i ll explain. but first, here s my take. the american economy seems to have picked up. the dow jones industrial average is hovering around 13,000, the highest since the financial crisis began in may 2008. the nasdaq is actually at its highest level since the technology bubble burst more than a decade ago. now, stock prices around everything, but data from the economy on the ground is also slowly getting better. jobless claims are down. housing starts are up. things do seem to be getting better, slowly, as i said, but surely. this is all good news for president obama because there is a very strong correlation between economic growth and a president s prospects for re-election. the unemployment numbers are still pretty high, but they are also falling. also, many models suggest that unemployment is not the crucial statistic to determine whether a president will win re-election. most people, after all, are employ