Skip to main content

Alex Friedman

Alex Friedman

25 commentaries

Alex Friedman, a former chief financial officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is Co-Founder and CEO of Novata.

Sort by: Show:
  1. Private Equity’s ESG Generation
    dibosco1_GETTY_ESG STANDARDS private equity Getty Images

    Private Equity’s ESG Generation

    Jul 12, 2022 Sébastien Mazella di Bosco & Alex Friedman argue that an often-maligned industry could take environmental, social, and governance investing mainstream.

  2. Hacking the Tragedy of the Commons
    afriedman25_Teera Konakan Getty Images_ green investment Teera Konakan Getty Images

    Hacking the Tragedy of the Commons

    Dec 7, 2021 Alex Friedman is bullish about new consortiums designed to mobilize privately held companies behind climate efforts.

  3. The US and China Are Not Destined for War
    krulak5_Forrest AndersonGetty Images_USChinaflags Forrest Anderson/Getty Images

    The US and China Are Not Destined for War

    Aug 17, 2021 Charles C. Krulak & Alex Friedman list four reasons to believe that the so-called Thucydides Trap can be avoided this time around.

  4. How to Fix the Gates Foundation
    afriedman23_ David RyderGetty Images_bill gates foundation David Ryder/Getty Images

    How to Fix the Gates Foundation

    May 28, 2021 Alex Friedman & Julie Sunderland identify three ways to boost charitable organizations' impact – including by making them divorce-proof.

  5. The Meaning of 200,000 COVID-19 Deaths
    afriedman22_ANGELA WEISSAFP via Getty Images_covid-19 deaths Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

    The Meaning of 200,000 COVID-19 Deaths

    Sep 22, 2020 Alex Friedman puts a deplorable US milestone into perspective – and urges action to prevent further tragedy.

  1. benami217_ ALBERTO PIZZOLIAFP via Getty Images)_ancient rome ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

    Why Rome Still Matters

    Shlomo Ben-Ami considers the ancient empire’s hold on the popular imagination and what its history has to teach us.
  2. hendy1_Sina Schuldtpicture alliance via Getty Images_maternity Sina Schuldt/picture alliance via Getty Images

    Egypt’s Skyrocketing C-Sections

    Rana Hendy & Lobna Shaheen urge policymakers to take decisive steps to address the inequalities fueling the rise in cesarean deliveries.
  3. caballero1_Sanjeev VermaHindustan Times via Getty Images_indiashopping Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

    Asia’s Consumer Tipping Point

    Juan Caballero & Wolfgang Fengler highlight a milestone that marks the transition from poverty to a more typical middle-class lifestyle.
  4. Rodrik_Say-More_Rawf8-via-GettyRF

    Kishore Mahbubani on the US-China rivalry, Asian security risks, and more

    Kishore Mahbubani offers advice to Western diplomats attempting to engage with Asia, identifies risks to the region’s stability, highlights Singapore’s lessons for developing-country leaders, and more.
  5. new delhi smog SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images

    Tracking Air Quality the Right Way

    Soumya Swaminathan & Christa Hasenkopf call for an authoritative global accounting of the world’s single greatest external risk to human health.
  6. buchholz19_Tayfun CoskunAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_aukus Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    Countries That March Together Should Trade Together

    Todd G. Buchholz urges the next US president to distinguish good from bad actors, rather than raise tariffs haphazardly.
  7. op_roubini1_GettyImages_USChinamoneysewedtogether Getty Images

    Resetting US-China Economic Relations

    Barry Eichengreen

    The implications of the deepening Sino-American rift are far-reaching, because several of the world’s most pressing economic problems can be solved only with contributions from both countries. And, to address global challenges, active cooperation between the two economic powers is indispensable.

    hopes that political will on both sides catches up with the opporunities for cooperation that now exist.
  8. gros189_Sean GallupGetty Images_germanypowerlines Sean Gallup/Getty Images

    The Improving Economics and Worsening Geopolitics of Clean Energy

    Daniel Gros warns that political obstacles are preventing the widespread uptake of low-cost green technologies.
  9. rajan94_Arvind YadavHindustan Times via Getty Images_indiasemiconductor Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

    Industrial Policy’s Deceptive New Clothes

    Raghuram G. Rajan

    If the new "industrial strategy" is offering ideas for better public governance, it is useful. But it becomes positively dangerous when it turns to the private sector, where state interventions inevitably undermine competition, disrupt price signals, and dampen the motivation to innovate.

    sees little reason to support the case for renewed government interventions in the private sector.

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification

To receive email updates regarding this {entity_type}, please enter your email below.

If you are not already registered, this will create a PS account for you. You should receive an activation email shortly.