“She was brilliant,” said a European delegate, on condition of anonymity.

“She said America was spending a lot of money and it was a temporary solution. Normal people are having to pay more and more but things don’t get better. The rich will leave the country and the poor will get poorer.”

Two US delegates left early, with one saying “it was awful, we couldn’t stand it any longer”. He declined to be identified…

“It was almost more of a speech promoting investment in Alaska,” [an Asian delegate] said, declining to be named.

“As fund managers we want to hear about the United States as a whole, not just about Alaska. And she criticised Obama a lot but offered no solutions.”