Does America not adopt the metric system out of sheer bloody-mindedness? On the BP oil spill, this article I find very telling (mostly imperial unfortunately). The UK is not much better, at least at governmental level. The day America changes its attitude to the rest of the world (of which SI is a fundamental part) is the day that the US will regain its pre-eminence, not until.
http://www.financialpost.com/Avertible+catastrophe/3203808/story.html#ixzz0sGacwW4e John F-L
