Archive - Dec 23, 2009

After a fashion, one has to feel sorry for the Congressional Budget Office. Except not really. Though the organization is supposed to be "non-partisan," it faces a dilemma that much resembles that of the Federal Reserve. It is intended, by design, to occasionally throw itself in front of moving freight trains and, despite whatever manic political momentum has built into velocity and pure mass of pages, occasionally stop them cold in the face of intense pressure, public and private. It has singularly failed in this mission since about 2001, and has, in the last few years, become merely a rubber stamp regularly gamed to extract its endorsement to flaunt in the satirical play that is the courting of public opinion.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board snapped up a Scottish shopping mall Monday, partnering with an English fund Hammerson on the $479-million deal. While the deal may have merits, CPPIB still refuses to clearly disclose its benchmarks for private markets.