What We Learned From Orlando.

1. The Perry campaign has a candidate problem. Governor Perry was handed numerous opportunities this evening to exhibit command -- of the subject matter, of the political environment, of the situation. He didn't do that.

Instead of closing the door on Mitt Romney, whom most GOP primary voters would rather not nominate, he kept opening the door instead. That's not what they're looking for! They're looking for someone who can slam the door shut.

Perry's answer on Pakistan was "painful," to borrow Michelle Malkin's tweet. Painfully ignorant and utterly inept. He had no idea what he was talking about. The post-game analysis of Perry's inability to close the door, much less close the deal, will be the dominant "after-story" of Orlando.

2. Is it really possible that we went through an entire two hours of debate and the subject of the imminent (possible) collapse of the global financial system never arose? Answer: Yes!

3. Michele Bachmann is finished.

Why China Won't Invest In The Eurozone.

Yao Yang in the Financial Times:

"Put simply, investing in Greek, Portuguese, Irish and even Italian government bonds is now a hazardous activity. China is not going to go ahead without some form of iron guarantee from Germany and France which seems equally unlikely."

Everything You Didn't Like About Team Obama In One Paragraph!

From the Washington Post (via Kausfiles):

"Meeting over dinner at the Bombay Club one night, Summers told Orszag that “we’re really home alone,” according to the book. “I mean it,” Summers said. “We’re home alone. There’s no adult in charge. Clinton would never have made these mistakes.”"

Just Pretend.

It used to be called Extend and Pretend; the idea being that if you pushed out the due dates on loans, economic growth would restart and cure the "credit problem."

Extend and Pretend lasted about 3 years.

Now we're in the era of Just Pretend.

Just Pretend is multi-faceted. We pretend that we're surprised by S&P's downgrade of Italy, even though everyone knows that Italy is a basket case. We pretend that Greece is not insolvent. We pretend that Angela Merkel has the political muscle to save the day. We pretend that there is no run on the French banks.

One day soon, the markets are going to stop pretending.

Where Do You Put Your Money?

Apparently not in a large French bank. The Financial Times reports:

Siemens withdrew more than half-a-billion euros in cash deposits from a large French bank two weeks ago and transferred it to the European Central Bank, in a sign of how companies are seeking havens amid Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

The German industrial group withdrew the money partly because of concerns about the future financial health of the bank and partly to benefit from higher interest rates paid by the ECB, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told the Financial Times.

Imagine what's happening at Italian banks.

Full report is here.

Wolfgang Munchau.

If you don't read his weekly column in the Financial Times on Mondays, I recommend doing so. He provides the clearest view into what is going on in Europe and into the highest councils of policy-making therein.

Today's column is typically excellent. More generally, the Financial Times now houses the best analysis and commentary team in the print media business.

How Much Does Owning A Dog Really Cost?

Bloomberg provides the definitive slideshow on the subject. Even if you don't do ridiculously expensive things for your dog, it runs into real money.

On the other hand, what would one do without one's dogs? (Item discovered via Paul Kedrosky)