2 Essay Due tonight 11pm. instruction seeing below,   Instructions Please type your essays using your favorite word processor, and turn it...

Instructions Please type your essays using your favorite word processor, and turn it in via drop box on Carmen. Pick only two essays to turn in and have graded. If you submit 3 essays you will receive credit only for the first 2 essays you submit. They should not be more than 3 pages, and should answer all parts of the question. A rubric detailing how the essay will be graded is posted alongside this document.

I am available during office hours (and lecture) to answer any questions you may have about the essay prompt. I can also answer specific questions about content from the course. I can also discuss the organization and plan for your essay, although I will not proof-read or act as an editor.

Clarity, and brevity are valuable. If you understand these topics you should be able to use appropriate terminology, and express yourself with an economy of words.

You should also consider this as a take-home exam (where I and your notes are available to help). First make sure you understand the material (study a bit, read some of the readings you may have skipped, ask me questions, etc). Then sit down and write the essay in 1-2 hours putting most effort into the content part of the essay. The result of your writing session constitutes a rough draft. Wait a day, then check for spelling, grammar, and style issues. Waiting a day and re-reading also gives you time to ask me questions about any content you realized you didn’t understand very well.

Income Inequality There is plenty of evidence that income is allocated unequally among people in society, and that the level of inequality has been rising in recent years. Using the ethical framework of your choice evaluate this outcome: is it good, bad, could it be improved upon or not? In order to evaluate income inquality you will need to take a stand on the sources of rising/changing income inequality, we discussed three broad sources: skill-biased technological change, bargaining power and rent seeking, and political institutions: in particular the top marginal tax rate.

For your evaluation you should briefly acknowledge all three, but focus attention on the one that you think is more important–explain that source of inequality in detail. The source of inequality you choose to discuss should reflect your chosen ethical framework, but it can also reflect your personal opinion and evalutation of the presented arguements.

If your evaluation is that current levels of income inequality are good or do not need improvement, then it should be clear why policies addressing inequality, via the source of inequality you choose to highlight, are not helpful from your ethical standpoint. If your evaluation of current levels of income inequality are bad or need improvement, then it should be clear why policies addressing inequality, via the source of inequality you choose to highlight, are helpful from your ethical standpoint.

Poverty In discussing poverty ethical issues often take a back seat to issues of fact. This is because people often agree that we should help those in poverty, but disagree on how we should help those in poverty. In contrast you should start your essay by framing it in terms of an ethical or moral stand about poverty in society and whether or not we need to take action. In order to take a stand on poverty you will need to define poverty within the context of your ethical framework and discuss the relevance of current measures of poverty.

We discussed two poverty fighting programs in the United States: welfare programs (TANF and others), and the EITC (and the unimplemented NIT). Mention both, but discuss only one of these policy ideas or policies. Explain how the policy is designed to work, and then discuss the relevant empirical information on whether or not the policy works or might work in practice. Tie your essay together by re-iterating your ethical or moral stand i.e. given your ethical stance would it be good for society to implement the policy, reform the policy in some way, expand the policy etc.? You

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might be certain that it is good given both the facts and your values, or you might be certain its bad, or you might be uncertain given limited data and want to take a more qualified position.

Minimum Wage There is a great deal of political debate about raising the minimum wage. Begin your essay by explaining how minimum wages work in a typical model of the labor market. What are the effects of these types of rules, and what aspects of the labor market determine the size of the effect? What are the empirical findings about these effects? Next list and discuss in detail at least one of the arguements presented that go beyond the typical model of a labor market in order to point out other effect of minimum wage laws. Conclude by setting up an ethical framework of your choice in which you will argue given that evidence and economic theory minimum wages should be increased, decreased, or abandoned.