Economics 499
Dr. Reed Olsen
Spring 1999
Assignment 7
The purpose of assignment 7 is to present a
summary report on a specific public policy debate orally
in class. You should prepare your oral summary report following
the outline that we discussed in class and that is presented in
chapter 7 of the textbook. You should do the following:
- I will pass around a sign-up sheet.
Select one of the following public policy debates and put
your name down with the debate on the sign-up sheet. Up
to two, but no more than two, people
may work together on a single oral presentation. If
you wish to do a summary oral report on a public policy
debate that is not listed, you may do so provided you
first get permission from the instructor. Possible
debates include:
- Affirmative Action – should
affirmative action be continued as policy used to
reduce or eliminate discrimination?
- Minimum Wage – should the
minimum wage be raised in order to benefit
low-skilled workers?
- Medical Malpractice Law –
what is the appropriate reform of medical malpractice
law to correct perceived problems in the law?
- Health Maintenance Organizations
– should so-called "patient’s bill of
rights" legislation be passed in order to curb
perceived deficiencies in HMOs?
- Tax Reform – Should our
current tax system be reformed and, if so, what form
should the reform take (flat-tax, etc.)?
- Educational Vouchers – Should
parents be given vouchers or some other option that
gives them greater choice in selecting a school for
their children?
- Collect current/historical information
about the debate. For the most part, the debates listed
above are current, although several of them have been on
going debates for years. You can search on-line to locate
articles published about the debate in the past few
years. Op-ed articles from the Wall Street Journal and
similar publications would be especially useful. The Congressional
Quarterly Weekly Report focuses on public policy
debates – a comprehensive index is published every
six months. Make sure to collect opposing viewpoints.
- Follow the procedure discussed in
class to do the summary report, paying particular
attention to organization. Recall that you should
organize the oral presentation either by (1) opposing
points of view, (2) point/counterpoint, or (3) proposed
solutions.
- You should be prepared to present an
oral presentation approximately 10 to 15 minutes in
length. Your report must follow the organization we
discussed in class and presented in Exhibit 7-5 in the
text. If you choose to work with another person, each
person must be equally involved in the oral presentation.
(For example, you could split the presentation up along
organizational lines, one person presenting one point of
view and the other person the opposing point of view.)
Your oral presentation will be graded both on delivery
and on content. Each person involved in the report
will be graded separately on his or her delivery, but
both will receive the same grade for the content.
The Assignment is due in class,
Wednesday, March 31st.
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