Good morning

The headlines:

1. The Presidential Debate: Round 2.

   Link: a draw?

   

   The link above is to the transcript of the debate, which makes for some gripping reading. Even if the answers to each question are a little formulaic.

   If you read it again, what you notice is this: everything that Romney wants to do, Obama says that Obama has already done; everything that Obama wants to do, Romney says that Romney can actually do, because Obama has already tried and failed. Which sounds like they both want to do the same thing.

   And clearly, neither of them is interested in answering the questions posed by the audience. Questions are just platforms to establishing the points in the previous paragraph. And everything else “just isn’t true”.

   Forgive me – but that’s hardly a rebuttal to a “fact check”, whatever the Huffington Post might say.

   Okay, the key points. Mr Romney has five of them. Energy independence for America, crackdown on China “trade that works for America”, a Balanced Budget, championing small business, and improving education.

   Mr Obama has six points. That Mitt Romney is not your man for any of the five points above; and the now-infamous “47%”. And here’s a blogger that agrees about the substance of debate.

   For a summary of the basic issues, you should read this article.

2. Mr Pandit, not a bandit, was a Nero, now a zero.

   Link: play that violin.

   

   The surprise exit of Vikram caused a slight stir in the Citigroup share price:

   

   Apparently, it came after a board disagreement about “mismanagement of operations”.

   Michael Corbat, a “29 year veteran”, has taken over as Citigroup CEO.

That’s all for now.

Have a good day.