Category Archives: Finance and Economics

Blue vs. Red State Inequality

Posted on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Today, David Brooks published an intriguing opinion editorial about the difference between Blue and Red State inequality. Brooks’ definitions of Blue and Red State inequality are necessarily fuzzy. You might be able to evaluate the issue from a quantitative standpoint, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Education, Finance and Economics, Leadership, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

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

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

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

“Real World”: Tea Party?

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

Well, no, actually. That would be calling attention to a conservative movement, and MTV likely wouldn’t want to have any part in legitimizing that. But if you support what appears to be an anarcho-Marxist movement that still has no concrete … Continue reading →

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

Ivory Tower Hypocrisy at Occupy Los Angeles: Part II

Posted on Monday, October 17, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Yesterday, I pointed out the blatant hypocrisy inherent in the UCLA Department of Education’s faculty statement of solidarity with the Occupy LA movement. Not only does the statement do nothing to reduce “the systematic undermining of equal educational opportunity for all students … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, California, Education, Finance and Economics, Media, Policy, Politics, Socialism | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments