September 15, 2008
BYLINE: John C. Coffee Jr.
“ ‘Naked’ short selling is discouraged, but not prohibited. Indeed, the level of current discouragement is probably accurately described as only a mild chill. Still, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering proposed rules to deepen the chill that ‘nudist’ short sellers must endure to engage in an activity that seems to be increasingly popular. This column will review the options. … John C. Coffee Jr. is the Adolf A. Berle Professor at Columbia Law School and director of its Center on Corporate Governance.”

September 14, 2008
BYLINE: Jagdish Bhagwati
“Globalization is the target of many critics today. The young see it as a malign force in regard to social agendas. The workers see it as a pernicious force in regard to their economic well-being. But both sets of fears, and resulting opposition to (economic) globalization, especially via trade and multinationals, are mistaken. … Jagdish Bhagwati is Professor of Economics at Columbia University in New York.”

September 11, 2008
BYLINE: Philip Bobbitt and John C. Danforth
“JOHN McCAIN and Barack Obama are two of the most remarkable Americans to enter public life. Both men are extraordinarily capable and their campaigns — which began against great odds — reflect that fact. And yet with respect to national security, neither campaign has articulated the fundamental points of view that will allow people to make an informed choice in November. … Here, then, on the anniversary of 9/11, a day when both candidates have chosen to put politics aside and appear together at ground zero, are a dozen questions we would like to see them address. … Philip Bobbitt, the author of ‘Terror and Consent: The Wars for the 21st Century,’ is a law professor at Columbia and a fellow at the University of Texas.”

ON THE MEDIA: Obama vs. McCain on media policy 2008
September 9, 2008

BYLINE: Tim Wu
“Someone—lots of people, actually—have been editing Sarah Palin's Wikipedia entry, but chances are, none of them is John McCain. Over the past weeks and months, some members of the mainstream media and many bloggers have grown obsessed with a single question: Does John McCain truly not know how to operate a computer? While entertaining (see ‘McCain makes historic first trip to Internet’), it's also a pretty silly discussion. The 1930 version of this game might have been, ‘Roosevelt can't drive a combine harvester—can we trust his agricultural policies?’ What, exactly, does knowing how to Twitter illuminate?
Behind this superficial buzzing lies something deeper, however—an interesting split between McCain and Barack Obama on what might broadly be called their media policies.
… Tim Wu is a professor at Columbia Law School and co-author of Who Controls the Internet?”