But if the extraordinary events of the past day demonstrate anything, it is that investment banks are black boxes, and what really matters is not what sits in them but what their counterparties fear may be lurking inside.

ECONOMIST: Rescuing a Wall Street bank

While pledging is certainly a potentially generous step, what really matters is not what one promises to give away but what one hands over, an irrevocable gift.

FORBES: World's Most Generous People

What really matters for jobs and competitiveness is not consumer price inflation, but the rate of change of unit labor costs. (Unit labor costs are wage rates adjusted for changes in productivity.) A recent study from the Boston Consulting Group suggests that Chinese unit labor costs will grow at about 8.5 percent per year over the next five years.

FORBES: Chuck Schumer and the China Currency Bill

Look, the only thing that really actually matters is not the date of the election, but what's the election about.

BBC: Take your politics too seriously