Category Archives: Investing

Capitalism, Unions, and Offshoring (Part III): Cost-Cutting

Posted on Friday, June 24, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

After encouraging its workforce to unionize, Egalitarius’ management saw a precipitous decline of 80% in its share price. With an eye on saving the company and the executive team’s jobs, Egalitarius’ management implemented aggressive cost-cutting measures.

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Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Investing, Mathematics, Policy, Politics, Predictions, Taxes, Unions | Tagged Capitalism, Egalitarius, Meritocratus, Offshoring, Unions | 6 Comments

Capitalism, Unions, and Offshoring (Part II): Workers of the World, Unite!

Posted on Friday, June 24, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

In the first installment of this series, we introduced two widget producers called Egalitarius and Meritocratus. Egalitarius’ management encourages its workers to unionize, because it wants to ensure that the company treats them fairly. With high ambitions to rectify Egalitarius’ “unfair” labor practices, the Widget Worker’s … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Investing, Mathematics, Policy, Politics, Predictions, Taxes, Unions | Tagged Capitalism, Egalitarius, Meritocratus, Offshoring, Unions | 4 Comments

Capitalism, Unions, and Offshoring (Part I): A Tale of Two Firms

Posted on Friday, June 24, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Once upon a time, there were two firms, Meritocratus and Egalitarius. Both firms operated in the $10 billion widget industry, and each had 50% market share. Widgets were not a commodity. Purchasers were sometimes willing to pay a premium for a … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Investing, Mathematics, Policy, Politics, Predictions, Taxes, Unions | Tagged Capitalism, Egalitarius, Meritocratus, Offshoring, Unions | 3 Comments

Should I Buy a Hybrid or an Electric Vehicle? (Part VII): Carbon Analysis

Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Yesterday I relaxed my $0.40 per kWh electricity price constraint to see if the two EVs and one PHEV would be more attractive at a lower cost of electricity. It turned out that the Nissan Leaf did become a more attractive option provided … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, California, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Energy Security, Finance and Economics, Investing, Policy, Politics, Predictions, Taxes | Tagged California, carbon emissions, carbon tax, Chevy Volt, Corolla, EV, Gasoline prices, HEV, ICE, Leaf, Nissan, PHEV, Prius, Roadster, Tesla, Toyota | 6 Comments

Should I Buy a Hybrid or an Electric Vehicle? (Part VI): Fuel and Electricity Sensitivity Analysis

Posted on Monday, May 2, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Yesterday I concluded that purchasing a Toyota Prius might make sense if gasoline prices remained at or above $4.00 per gallon, and if I used the vehicle for 20,000 or more miles annually. A critical assumption underlying this analysis was … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, California, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Energy Security, Finance and Economics, Investing, Predictions, Taxes | Tagged California, Chevy Volt, Corolla, EV, Gasoline prices, HEV, ICE, Leaf, Nissan, PHEV, Prius, Roadster, Tesla, Toyota | 10 Comments

Should I Buy a Hybrid or an Electric Vehicle? (Part V): Mileage and Fuel Sensitivity Analysis

Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Yesterday I concluded that purchasing a Toyota Corolla was the most economically efficient decision given my circumstances. However, I also suggested that it still might make sense to purchase a Prius under certain conditions.

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Should I Buy a Hybrid or an Electric Vehicle? (Part IV): Preliminary Results

Posted on Saturday, April 30, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

The results are in! The majority of readers voted for buying a Prius. And it turns out they are wrong…

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Posted in Business, California, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Energy Security, Finance and Economics, Investing, Predictions, Taxes | Tagged BART, California, Chevy Volt, Corolla, EV, HEV, ICE, Leaf, Nissan, PHEV, Prius, Roadster, Tesla, Toyota | 3 Comments

Should I Buy a Hybrid or an Electric Vehicle? (Part I)

Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

My wife and I share one car. This fact puts us in the minority among American households. According to a Pew Research study cited by Newsweek in 2008, 70% of American households own two or more cars. We have avoided purchasing … Continue reading →

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Poetic Justice: Obama Brings Tax Hike Plans to Silicon Valley

Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

For those who have been following this blog for any period of time, they know I despise taxation. However, I am a pragmatist and am willing to bite the bullet on some tax increases for those making over $1 million … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Investing, Policy, Politics | Tagged Facebook, McCain, President Obama, Silicon Valley, Socialism, Wealth transfer | 8 Comments

S&P Lowers United States Debt Outlook to Negative

Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Today, Standard & Poor’s lowered its rating outlook for United States debt from stable to negative on the heels of the American government’s persistent dysfunction to reduce the deficit. The market’s reaction has been slightly negative to this news, even though … Continue reading →