Students can send an email request (with the topic and stance) to participate in one of the three trade policy debates. In preparing for the debate, students need to read carefully the debate instructions and follow the guidelines. It is necessary to prepare presentation slides to organize the statements/arguments/theoretical foundation/empirical support and submit them at least a week before the debate in order to receive feedback.
Team members need to know the debate structure, divide their work, and prepare slides to organize debate arguments. Please read general debate guideline and instructions carefully before your preparation. In preparing the slides, refer to the most relevant theory, evidence, and policy outcomes. Evaluation is based on the preparation of slides, participation, and performance/response during the debate. Meeting the requirements and academic standards in preparing the slides is important.
While it is possible to find dominant empirical evidence to support one side, the debate questions are designed in an ambiguous way so that the debaters would need to specify the conditions and constraints in which their arguments made are valid. In practice, a good economist always takes a comprehensive view of the issue and provides solutions following economic principles. Public policies, on the other hand, usually face short-run and long-run conflicts and also must need to strike a balance between equity and efficiency. But very often, public policies are influenced by interest groups and lack of rigorous analysis.
Debate I 3/6: Should countries favor free trade or protectionism?
Debate II 4/8: Did U.S. benefit from its trade policy?
Debate III 5/6: Should nations follow international trade standards (labor, environment, and intellectual property rights)?
Note: Debate team members will be notified via email about a month before debate. The first draft of debate slides should be sent to the instructor at least one week before the debate for feedback and comments. The final version of the slides shall be submitted within 3 days after the debate for evaluation purposes. When submitting your first draft and final draft of the presentation slides, please reply to the notification email (Subject: BC3047 Debate #) and attach the file. Double-check the slides and send a single file (pdf is preferred). Avoid late submission and resubmission. Evaluation on the slides and debate performance will be sent via email within in a week upon receiving the final version of the slides.
Evaluation Criteria:
1) Appearance of team/seriousness of team
2) Delivery: addressed remarks to the audience in clear, loud voices
3) Opening statements were well organized, complete and included three arguments
4) Team members participated equally throughout the debate
5) Arguments were related to ethical perspectives and principles
6) Rebuttal was specific to arguments made in the opposing team’s opening statement
7) Summary provided and opponents’ counterpoints addressed
8) Answers to audience questions were well thought out
9) Respect shown throughout the debate for the opposing team (no name calling, interruptions, etc.)
10) Presentation slides are well organized; arguments are well developed; data and evidence are clearly cited
