Hello,
Can you please help rate this essay? This is from MGMAT CAT. Thanks for your help.
ESSAY QUESTION:
The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper:
"The inflow of immigrant workers into our community has put a downward pressure on wages. In fact, the average compensation of unskilled labor in our city has declined by nearly 10% over the past 5 years. Therefore, to protect our local economy, it is essential to impose a moratorium on further immigration."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
YOUR RESPONSE:
The author of this article is claiming that an inflow of immigrant workers into his community has caused a downward pressure on wages. In-other words wages have gone down due to this influx of immigrant workers. He goes on to present evidence that the average compensation of unskilled labour in his city has declined by almost 10% over the past 5 years. Hence the author is saying that in-order to protect the local economy it is mandatory to impose a moratorium on further immigration.
The author does have a valid point here. It is often the case that an inflow of cheap labor increases the demand for such labor thereby depressing the prevailing wages. However the author has not mentioned anything about the wages that were prevailing before these immigrant workers came in. It is quite possible that this inflow of immigrant workers might have caused wages to come to a level that is on par with the national average!
The author has also stated that the average compensation of unskilled labor in his city has declined by nearly 10% over the past 5 years. It is quite possible here as well that this influx of immigrant unskilled labor might have brought the compensation on par with the national average.
A serious flaw here is that in both the above claims the author has not mentioned anything about the type of unskilled immigrant laborers. Obviously if they are illegal immigrant laborers then the issue at hand is something much larger. However, if it is legal immigrant labor then the author cannot really ask for a moratorium on further immigration. It can be very well argued here that because of this immigrant labor, labor costs have come down which is causing people to spend money on homes, lawns and vehicles ( which all require a lot of manual labor) and thereby all this is revitalizing the local economy. If the author is able to present some more details about the negative impact of these extra laborers on the econonomy of the city, he can greatly strenthen his argument.
When the author concludes that a moratorium is essential on immigration, it is again not clear whether he refers to legal or illegal unskilled immigrants. Illegal unskilled immigration is never a good thing. However, if these immigrating workers are legal then it is very hard to have any kind of restrictions on their movement. Legal unskilled workers cannot be restriced to go to any particular city in search of employment!
Hence, though this argument is very valid and something that does have some truth in it the above information by itself is not sufficient to support the author's stand to impose a moratorium on further immigration. Had the author added a note about the impact of all these immigrant laborer's on the city's economy as a whole and had the author mentioned the status of these immigrant workers he would have greatly strengthened his argument.
Can you please help rate this essay? This is from MGMAT CAT. Thanks for your help.
ESSAY QUESTION:
The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper:
"The inflow of immigrant workers into our community has put a downward pressure on wages. In fact, the average compensation of unskilled labor in our city has declined by nearly 10% over the past 5 years. Therefore, to protect our local economy, it is essential to impose a moratorium on further immigration."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
YOUR RESPONSE:
The author of this article is claiming that an inflow of immigrant workers into his community has caused a downward pressure on wages. In-other words wages have gone down due to this influx of immigrant workers. He goes on to present evidence that the average compensation of unskilled labour in his city has declined by almost 10% over the past 5 years. Hence the author is saying that in-order to protect the local economy it is mandatory to impose a moratorium on further immigration.
The author does have a valid point here. It is often the case that an inflow of cheap labor increases the demand for such labor thereby depressing the prevailing wages. However the author has not mentioned anything about the wages that were prevailing before these immigrant workers came in. It is quite possible that this inflow of immigrant workers might have caused wages to come to a level that is on par with the national average!
The author has also stated that the average compensation of unskilled labor in his city has declined by nearly 10% over the past 5 years. It is quite possible here as well that this influx of immigrant unskilled labor might have brought the compensation on par with the national average.
A serious flaw here is that in both the above claims the author has not mentioned anything about the type of unskilled immigrant laborers. Obviously if they are illegal immigrant laborers then the issue at hand is something much larger. However, if it is legal immigrant labor then the author cannot really ask for a moratorium on further immigration. It can be very well argued here that because of this immigrant labor, labor costs have come down which is causing people to spend money on homes, lawns and vehicles ( which all require a lot of manual labor) and thereby all this is revitalizing the local economy. If the author is able to present some more details about the negative impact of these extra laborers on the econonomy of the city, he can greatly strenthen his argument.
When the author concludes that a moratorium is essential on immigration, it is again not clear whether he refers to legal or illegal unskilled immigrants. Illegal unskilled immigration is never a good thing. However, if these immigrating workers are legal then it is very hard to have any kind of restrictions on their movement. Legal unskilled workers cannot be restriced to go to any particular city in search of employment!
Hence, though this argument is very valid and something that does have some truth in it the above information by itself is not sufficient to support the author's stand to impose a moratorium on further immigration. Had the author added a note about the impact of all these immigrant laborer's on the city's economy as a whole and had the author mentioned the status of these immigrant workers he would have greatly strengthened his argument.
