[tmd]

It's not just the US doing it. I always read newspapers from both sides of the pond and it was especially entertaining during the big financial crisis. Many European publications acted as if the US is collapsing but Europe will be largely unaffected and American ones anticipated swift recovery for the US and deep EU crisis. Even newspapers that you wouldn't normally associate with nationalistic sentiments (like the New York Times) engaged in some serious fear-mongering.

People also respond to these kinds of messages. I visited the US this August, when the euro crisis was often making the news. Several people were seriously and non-sarcastically concerned with my capacity for paying for my own lunch or hotel. They were very surprised when I told them that the euro is worth more or less the same as always in relation to the dollar.