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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 theprice increase will generate larger revenues and will also reduce the volume ofmail, thereby eliminating the strain on the existing system and contributing toimproved morale.

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion, be sure toanalyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. Forexample, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie thethinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weakenthe conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen orrefute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more

logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate itsconclusion. (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

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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 mentionedpoints 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.