Debate.org: Economics Debates

Should unicorns be able to farm?

2013-04-29T21:10:40-08:00

(Post Voting Period) This is an acceptance round. Should unicorns be able to farm? yes they should the rules: must be completely based on what you know about unicorns

Gay marriage should be illegal

2013-05-15T22:33:02-08:00

(Voting Period) I think that gay marriage should be illegal,because me as an American should be walking around with my little son and see a gay couple having love. I also think that it is dangerous to the a adopted kid that is growing up in a gay household.

Gay Marriage should stay legal

2013-05-08T17:13:08-08:00

(Post Voting Period) People should just accept gay marriage because 1. it's not their business 2. it's not their choice and 3. People can be who ever they want to be.

Should cheese be Legal?

2013-04-28T15:40:54-08:00

(Post Voting Period) The question is: should cheese be legal? I say yes. What do you think?

On balance capitalism is a better system for mankind then Communism

2013-02-03T14:55:02-08:00

(Post Voting Period)

Resolution "On balance capitalism is a better system for mankind then Communism"

better for mankind - increasing the well-being
capitalism - an economic system where the means of production are mainly privately owned and people earn a portion of their income from trade.
communism - stateless, classless society, where the means of production are owned colectively, and the idea of private property is non-existant. Money is also non-existence.

Debate rules:

1. No semantics.

2. First Round for acceptance, and rule and definition clearification only.
3. No new arguments in the last round.
4. Mainly Text-only debate. However, pictures and graphs can be used occassionaly (so long as they are not predominately text).
5. All source material must be easily accessable

For purposes of this debate, I will not debate a "pure" capitalist system. However, I believe Hong

Minimum Wage Should be Abolished

2013-04-22T05:30:26-08:00

(Post Voting Period) Hello, Chelsea. I saw your argument for minimum wage. I would like to debate this issue with you. As a supporter for the abolition of minimum wage, I think we could have a good conversation on the topic. I will give you the first word this round, if you choose to accept.

Thett3 Tournament: Labor Unions are a net benefit to humanity

2013-02-07T00:18:08-08:00

(Post Voting Period)

Definitions
net benefit to humantiy- the well being of all humans
labor union - an organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members' interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions

debate rules:

1. No semantics.
2. First Round for acceptance, and rule and definition clearification only.
3. No new arguments in the last round.
4. Text-only debate.
5. All source material must be easily accessable

This debate will be based on whether labor unions itself are good or bad, not individual policies or laws that can be used to encourage or discourage labor unions. For example, stating that the process of banning labor unions would not be possible is not a valid argument.

The BOP of proof is

The Minimum Wage Is a Sound Economic Policy

2012-11-29T19:27:12-08:00

(Post Voting Period)

You are the best, most free person available who's wanted this.

Full Resolution:

The Minimum Wage Is a Sound Economic Policy.

I will be negating this resolution.

BoP is shared.

Definitions:

The Minimum Wage: "The smallest hourly wage that an employee may be paid as mandated by federal law."[1]

Sound: "Financially strong, secure, or reliable."[2]

Economic Policy: "The actions taken by a government to influence its economy."[3]

Rules:

1. The first round is for acceptance.
2. A forfeit or concession is not allowed.
3.

Windmills has more cons than pros

2013-05-02T22:12:28-08:00

(Post Voting Period) Windmills are a hazard to all the flying animals. If you are an environment freak you should know its a problem. The windmills bring down your value of the house, it has shadows constantly, and think about in winter it will throw off ice into your house. It also makes noise that is not quiet, and how would you like to see out to your back yard and see this huge windmills.

2,000 Days of DDO: When in Recession, Taxes Should be Lowered

2013-04-10T23:42:36-08:00

(Post Voting Period)

For my debate to celebrate the 2,000 day anniversary of Debate.org, I have decided to do taxes.

Arguments

I am arguing that when the US is in a recession, taxes should be cut and not raised. My opponent must argue why it is better to not cut taxes and either keep the tax rates where they are or raise them.

Rules

Round 1 is for acceptance. No trolling or semantics. Shared burden of proof.

Bitcoin is fundamentally sound

2013-03-28T12:08:29-08:00

(Post Voting Period) I believe Bitcoin is fundamentally sound and I invite anyone to prove otherwise. I will argue this in 2 ways: 1) Bitcoin meets the definition of money 2) Bitcoin is superior to its competitors which are widely recognized as fundamentally sound 1: Bitcoin is a store of value, a unit of account and a medium of exchange. These are the historical requirements of a "sound money." See the source below for evidence that Bitcoin can be (and has been) used in such ways: https://www.bitcoinstore.com/ 2: At the above source you also may have noticed that the bitcoin prices various goods are sold at, even after considering exchange rates and fees, are below prices in Euro or USD. USD and Euro are considered widely as the world's most fundamentally strong currencies. Lower prices in Bitcoin is an economic market indicator of a fundamentally stronger currency. Reasons for Bitcoin's superiority include: A) Bitcoin creates a free market. This is due to its pseud

Raising Minimum Wage Damages the Economy

2012-11-02T13:06:09-08:00

(Post Voting Period)

Rules: I will be debating that unemployment raising minimum wage hurts the economy rather than help it. My opponent must argue that raising it helps the economy.

No semantics or trolling.

Round 1 is just for acceptance.

Corporate CEOs in America Should Be Paid Less

2013-01-05T18:13:50-08:00

(Post Voting Period)

I originally issued this challenge to Danielle, until I found out we were advocating the same side. I've since made this debate impossible to accept. If you are interested in debating CON for the resolution, please let me know in the comments section, thank you.

The subject matter deals with this forum topic:

$8.25 per hour vs. $8.75 million per year

http://debate.org/forums/economics/topic/27592/

The OP:

Bloomberg has this story up showcasing the chasm between workers and executive pay:

http://www.bloomberg.com...

The CEO of McDonalds is compared to a worker who grew up in a similar neighborhood, yet one person makes a ton of money while

Should the wealthiest Americans be taxed?

2013-02-01T06:08:07-08:00
(Post Voting Period) For starters, I'm a bit stunned. I cannot believe that Obama wishes to tax the wealthy Americans more heavily than they are already being taxed. Why does he want to do this? Well, the president doesn"t believe in asking "students and seniors and middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit" while people like him"who are "making over two hundred fifty thousand dollars""aren"t expected to pay "a dime more in taxes." Hahaha. Frankly, it has become my personal belief that Obama"s efforts have begun to seem like a single-minded struggle that is based on ideology more than reality. When you compare the numbers, it is evident that the rich, who are paying an average of " of America"s taxes, are already paying too much money. What Obama is asking for seems impractical. It's like he expects the wealthy to pay off the entire American deficit, when they didn"t even create it in the first place. The constitution states that all men are expected to be

The GOP are ignorant hypocrites for blaming gas prices on Obama

2012-05-22T02:18:35-08:00
(Post Voting Period) The resolution refers to a thread made by Contra in the politics forum about how hypocritical it is for Republicans to blame gas prices in Obama, shown in this thread below, http://www.debate.org/forums/politics/topic/20631/ I will argue that it is hypocritical for Republicans to blame rising gas prices on Obama and not give him some credit when they go down. Roy will argue that it is NOT hypocritical 4 rounds 1st round doesn't have to be acceptance only I will not troll or use semantics (If there's something I screwed up just comment on it and I'll fix it an resend the challenge) Let the debate begin

Air fares should reflect the combined weight of the passenger and their luggage

2013-02-27T10:40:47-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
As a result of international sanctions, certain commodities are in very short supply in Iran and last month my friend "Insane" Hussein Avhadmedinnerdad, who is a stallholder in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, asked me to send him a consignment of cornflakes over as they cannot be officially imported into Iran. So I went to my local cash-and-carry, bought a 1m² wholesale box of this decadent Western breakfast cereal and sent it to him by air freight, for which the airline charged me $50.

Then, this month, Hussein got in touch again and asked me if I could send him something else that he couldn't get in Iran - highly enriched uranium - which he said is much in demand at the moment. For some reason, however, the cash-and-carry doesn't stock uranium so I went to see my friend "Bonkers" Boris Pantzov, a Ukrainian arms dealer who drinks in my local pub, and who can get his

It would be mutually beneficial for farmers in the West to recruit agricultural interns from Africa

2012-12-21T11:45:10-08:00
(Post Voting Period) Farmers in Europe and America are always complaining that they are not rich enough: they say this is partly because the relatively high cost of farm labour in the West makes their produce uncompetitive in the global marketplace. Meanwhile in Africa farmers struggle to produce enough food even to meet local demand, mainly because the natives are not familiar with the modern farming techniques that are employed in the West to increase productivity and improve yields. With this being the case, it would make perfect sense for farmers in the West to import agricultural interns from Africa who, in return for unpaid labour on their farms, would acquire valuable knowledge and skills which they could take back to Africa with them once they have worked long enough to repay the debt they owe the farmer who sponsored their trip. Naturally, farmers must be entitled to protect their investments from agricultural intern-rustlers by housing their horticultural train

Keeping The Federal Reserve

2013-02-08T01:05:10-08:00
(Post Voting Period) I'd like to thank my opponent, Zak, for accepting this debate. Best of luck to him. I'd like to start with my stance which validates the need for a central bank system (or the Federal Reserve, in particular). The Federal Reserve is a central bank, or a system of banking which acts as a regulatory arm of monetary policy. The Federal Reserve, currently chaired by Ben Bernanke, has stated the mission statement of the central bank of the United States on the website of the Federal Reserve. - Conducting the nation's monetary policy by influencing money and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of full employment and stable prices. - Supervising and regulating banks and other important financial institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation's banking and financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers. - Maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets. -

Governments should value economic equality before prosperity

2012-03-26T00:37:08-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
Political motions are always divisive, but this one lies right at the top of the scale. It's two years after the recession and now, in the American election, a lot of what the international media is showing is a great argument among the presidential hopefuls as to how America can be made to be as prosperous as possible. The question is - is that even desirable? Or should the governments of America and other countries aim primarily for a more equal distribution of wealth, given how some Americans are in greater poverty than ever before, while others seem only to get wealthier and wealthier?

Definitions

Since the motion is incredibly vague, let me define my idea of "economic equality". Economics is all about standard of living. Having an equal standard of living means that we get fair compensation for our work, and that we get work to do. This involves three processes. First, work must be fair, so employers can't discri

I don't think coffee baristas should get tipped

2013-03-25T15:17:13-08:00
(Post Voting Period) I disagree with the fact that nowadays when I go into coffee shops or fast food places and I pay by credit card and I am TAKING OUT that I get prompted to tip. It makes me feel uncomfortable and I have to hit decline and feel worse.