It is less than 20 miles from the pristine surfing beaches of the California coast to a scene of Third World deprivation.
California has only 50,000 job openings a year for people with college degrees, yet 150,000 are graduating annually
In Skid Row, a grimy pocket of downtown Los Angeles, the prostrate forms of homeless people lie strewn across the pavements.
The lucky ones have tents for shelter but others make do with a sliver of cardboard for a bed and a supermarket trolley to carry their rags.
At the last police count 1,662 people live on these streets, twice as many as a year ago.
And now amid the drug addicts and the drunks there are families who not so long ago had homes and ordinary suburban lives.
“Los Angeles is re-experiencing the Great Depression,” said Rev Andy Bales, who runs the nearby Union Rescue Mission shelter. “This is the worst I have ever seen it and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. This is all these people have as a last resort and I think there’s going to be over 2,000 by Christmas.
“I don’t think people around the world understand just how bad it is here.”
California – the Golden State, the world’s eighth largest economy – is spluttering and stalling and for many the dream life is turning increasingly sour.
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