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Alexander Ochs is director of International Policy at the Center for Clean Air Policy. As such, he provides strategic guidance on all aspects of international climate policy at the center. He oversees CCAP's international efforts and also advises on their US strategy. Alexander is also the founding editor of FACET - Forum for Atlantic Climate and Energy Talks, ...More

Editorial, The New York Times | September 29, 2008 Congress has failed to take any significant steps on an energy policy over the past year; in fact, it appears as if they’re backsliding. ++ “Drill, baby, drill” has become the mantra de jour, as partisan politics have rendered any compromise untenable, while making filibustering, sniping, and posturing as commonplace as the catchphrase itself. ...More

Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard | September 29, 2008 Presidential debates cannot change the fundamentals of an election. ++ Reagan's poor opening debate against Mondale didn't keep him from a 49-state landslide, and Kennedy's strong debate against Nixon didn't insure his victory - a surge in the Catholic vote did. ++ While McCain performed well on Friday, the fundamentals haven't changed: unpopular president, ...More

Robert J. Samuelson, The Washington Post | September 29, 2008 We are witnessing the very "bankruptcy of modern economics." ++ While we have long understood demand-oriented macroeconomics, the current financial crisis does not conform to any previous economic model or known solution. ++ The previous $152 billion stimulus package didn't help, since the problem lay with financial markets, not consumer markets. ++ The Paulson ...More

Fania Oz-Salzberger, Monash University | September 29, 2008 Tzipora Livni is the newly elected leader of the Kadima party and may become Israel's prime minister. ++ She represents those who favor a two-state solution instead of a Greater Israel, because they just want to live safely. ++ It is likely that she would negotiate "with pragmatic Palestinians and offer them full sovereignty in exchange for full peace." ++ If ...More

Shobhaa De, The Times of India | September 29, 2008 Currently, the US is reeling from the "Palin Effect." ++ The overall demoralization and financial crises damage the collective identity of Americans and that is why voters need to hear that their country is still 'exceptional'. ++ Fortunately, "Palin finds everything 'exceptional', when it comes to America" and gathers a lot of popularity for saying this. ++ ...More

Mark Lawson, The Guardian | September 26, 2008 Brown and McCain value experience as a virtue. ++ Especially McCain's strategy is contradictionary: he portrays himself as a politician who has enough experience to shape the decision about the financial rescue package, and as a Washington outsider at the same time. ++ However, neither Obama nor McCain have executive experience. ++ In the US and UK voters are ...More

Jeffrey Garten, Yale School of Management | September 26, 2008 The financial crisis evinces the exigent need for a “Global Monetary Authority.” ++ No international framework exists for dealing with such crises; the vacuum is perilous. ++ Financial wealth is shifting to the East; the result will be a “clash of philosophies,” in which the American financial system will be contested. ++ The GMA would ...More

Editorial, The New York Times | September 26, 2008 The US Senate must pass a waiver buying seats aboard Russian space vehicles for US astronauts.++ The NASA shuttle fleet retires in two years, and its new space vehicle, the Orion, will not be ready until 2015, essentially leaving the space station to the Russians until that time. ++ The only way for American astronauts to continue at the space station is via ...More

Nitish Sengupta, The Times of India | September 26, 2008 The impact of the current financial crisis on India will be minimal. ++ Indian institutions, such as ICICI Bank, have relatively little exposure to Wall Street, and due to a good regulatory system, should escape fairly unscathed. ++ However, Tata AIG will admittedly have trouble ahead. ++ Finance Minister Chidambaram has already guaranteed that "firms will have ...More