Monthly Archives: October 2011

The Selfish Generation

Posted on Monday, October 31, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Earlier this month, AARP released the video above, which typifies every stereotype many members of my generation hold about Baby Boomers. Namely that they lived it up in the sixties, led extremely comfortable and self-indulgent lives built on the backs of the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Finance and Economics, Healthcare, Media, Policy, Politics, Social Security, Socialism, Taxes | Tagged , | 10 Comments

ROARR’s Guiding Principles (Part II): Small, but Not Minimal, Government Is Best

Posted on Sunday, October 30, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

In Part I of this series, I argued that a fundamental reason our government is broken is the political selection process favoring ideological warriors over pragmatic problem solvers. I introduced my “Funnel of Futility” theory: as ideology becomes increasingly important in one’s decision-making … Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogging, Business, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Defense, Education, Energy Security, Finance and Economics, Food Security, Healthcare, International Security, Leadership, Mathematics, Media, Peak Oil, Policy, Politics, Socialism, Taxes, Technology, Writing | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

ROARR’s Guiding Principles (Part I): Data-Driven Decision-Making Produces Pragmatic Public Policy

Posted on Saturday, October 29, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Since starting this blog almost ten months ago, I intended to post this site’s guiding principles. Yet ten months into this experiment, I still haven’t done so. So without further ado, here is the first of seven principles that embody the philosophies underlying Reflections … Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogging, Business, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Defense, Education, Energy Security, Finance and Economics, Food Security, Healthcare, International Security, Leadership, Mathematics, Media, Peak Oil, Policy, Politics, Socialism, Taxes, Technology, Writing | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

How Will Occupy Wall Street End?

Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Commentators have engaged in a great deal of speculation about how they believe the Occupy Wall Street movement will evolve over time. Will it end violently like it did in Oakland? Will it become an enduring movement that forever changes … Continue reading →

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Posted in California, Finance and Economics, Media, Policy, Politics, Predictions, Socialism, Taxes | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Americans Distrust Government, Disapprove of Congress

Posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

A recent New York Times/CBS News poll shows that 89 percent of Americans surveyed distrust government to do the right thing, and that 84 percent disapprove of Congress. Interestingly, only 46 percent disapprove of President Obama’s job performance, a potential … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Media, Policy, Politics, Socialism, Taxes, Unions | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Political Orientation Poll

Posted on Sunday, October 23, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

It’s been nearly ten months since I started this blog, and I wanted to get a sense for what type of audience I have. My hypothesis is that most readers are in the moderate range (both liberal and conservative), but … Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogging, Business, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Cost per Job in DOE’s Loan Program Qualifies for One-Percent Status

Posted on Saturday, October 22, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

As of today, October 22, 2011, the cost per job created (or saved) from the Department of Energy’s Federal Loan Guarantee Program is $554,217.61 (i.e., $35.9B in federal loan guarantees divided by 64,776 jobs). The most famous of these loan guarantees was the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, California, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Energy Security, Finance and Economics, Media, Policy, Politics, Taxes | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Occupy Wall Street Theme Song

Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

My precocious 9-year old daughter came up with the idea for this song sung to the tune of the Fraggle Rock theme song. Then, my wife and I ran with it. Enjoy! Protest your cares away Work is for some … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Humor, Media, Music, Policy, Politics, Socialism, Texas, Unions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Who Are the One Percent?

Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

As the Occupiers are busy sharpening their pitchforks for their next reenactment of Children of the Corn, I thought it might be instructive to share a nice little tool from the Wall Street Journal. The tool allows you to enter … Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogging, Business, Finance and Economics, Humor, Media, Politics, Socialism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Who Are the Occupiers?

Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Aaron Rutkoff at the Wall Street Journal published an article yesterday summarizing a scientific poll of the protestors. The results are relatively unsurprising as they reveal that the plurality of the protestors are young and supportive of left-wing causes. They are also disproportionately un- or … Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogging, Business, Finance and Economics, Humor, Media, Politics, Socialism | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments