The following appeared in the opinion section of a national newsmagazine: To reverse the deterioration of the postal service, the

government should raise the price of postage stamps. This solution will no doubt prove effective, since the price increase will generate larger revenues and will also reduce the volume of mail, thereby eliminating the strain on the existing system and contributing to improved morale. Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion, be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion. (used with permission from mba.com)

Ans - The argument above says that the government should raise price of postage stamps in order to reverse the deterioration of the postal service. The argument also says that the strain will be eliminated by this step. The author is seriously flawed in that he bases his conclusion on certain unsupported and hypothetical assumptions.

First, the author simply states that if the price of postage stamps is decreased, the revenues will increase and the volume of mail will reduce. He does not cite any predicted data and falsely assumes that the decrease in volume will not lead to a decrease in revenue. He also does not present the readers with any insight about the state of conditions or the deterioration of the service

Secondly, the author did not consider that there may be any other possible method of reducing strain on the system. He just states that to raise price of stamps will be an effective way. He does not try to find any other possible solution. He writes that this step will lead to improved morale. He does not give any details about how the morale will be improved if the volume of mails is to decrease.

Finally,the author is at fault that the government should raise the price to just increase revenue and eliminate strain. Governments are generally present to facilitate the common people and to provide

maximum help in any way they can. The author fails to consider that there may be a particular reason for the current price of postage stamps.

To conclude, the argument would have been better if the author incorporated the above mentioned points in it. He could have given a record of the load on the system and then could have suggested the increase in revenue and subsequent reduction in volume as one of the possible solutions. He could have presented us with a data about load on the current system and the need to reduce that load. He could also have considered the reason for the current price and then said anything about reducing the price. In its current form, the argument looks more like a statement which is not based on proper resons. I would reserve my statement in favour of the author until he incorporates the above mentioned suggestions to make the argument more palatable and coherent.

To take care : 1 try tpo include some example. 2 try avoiding giving solutions.