The Wharton Politics & Business Association Presents “Paving the Road to a Pre-eminent Philadelphia”
Purpose:
The purpose of the competition is for students to analyze competitive practices in the global economy and make recommendations based on their own research into superior practices aiming to transform Philadelphia into pre-eminent, global city. Students are encouraged to draw on examples from around the world and are free to focus their research in one of a number of fields. For example, a student may wish to investigate how distinguished health care institutions can be better leveraged as economic generators and prestige builders.
Process:
Students interested in submitting a piece for the competition should contact Cortney Charleston with “Pre-eminent Philadelphia” in the subject heading. The student shall then be forwarded a more detailed prompt. Following this, interested students shall submit a brief abstract or description of the topic they plan to write about. This abstract/description serves as confirmation of participation. All contest participants will then have until April 26th to complete their submissions.
Contest Summation:
Abstracts (Brief Description of Paper Topic) Due: April 16, 2010
Final Paper Due: April 26, 2010
Other Submission Guidelines: Paper should be no more than 10-pages double-spaced, one-inch margins (citations included). Abstract must be submitted before writing can begin.
The best proposals will be published in a document titled after the contest. This publication will be available/distributed during Reading Days across campus.
Contact: Cortney Charleston (cortneyc@wharton.upenn.edu)
Ranting with Reason, By David Vinnikov
I just read a NYT op-ed that I found very interesting. It states as follows:
“In the ‘90s, broke state and city run transportation services, like the Metropolitan Transit Authority (NYC) and SEPTA, needed cash. The economy was good, but they were in constant budget troubles for the same reasons they are today (unions, zero innovation, fiscal carelessness etc.) Since these organizations need cash actively, they looked for it. No takers came, seeing their poor economic state.”
The government came in and said “tax breaks for anyone who does leasebacks.” A leaseback is when I take ownership of assets for some time, collect interest, and then hand the asset back to you after some time. No one wanted to do this with defunct companies like the MTA, because no one wanted their worthless railroad cars and tunnels. They were a sure loss, at least until the government guaranteed profit.
The 90s are sublime because the growing economy covers up problems. The chief financiers of these leasebacks are big, big banks. Banks get guaranteed profit, government transport agencies get their cash flow for nothing (while keeping all needed control of their rail cars), and the growing economy covers the taxpayer’s share. Life is good.
Economic turmoil now enters the scene. The collapse of 2008 is reality and large banks (most prominently AIG) go under the waves, meaning that the people they were supporting go under too.
The correct economic action for a company in such a time is to call back the liabilities in your balance sheet, since all the assets are pretty much up in smoke. As you know, a balance sheet that doesn’t have assets equal its liabilities is a recipe for disaster. It is in fact, impossible. So AIG decides it wants to exercise its right to call back these contracts, as they have all expired, and try to save itself and become free from taxpayer cash. Selling “leasebacks” means that transport agencies pony up the interest cash they owe after getting to use railcars and tunnels for free the past decade (along with nice, subsidized access to international capital markets, courtesy of AIG, which does it courtesy of US Federal Government).
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What Kind of Agriculture Are We Subsidizing? By Curt Ellis
Hot Question: Is it unethical for developed nations such as the United States or those in the European Union to subsidize their agriculture? Do these subsidies affect the agricultural industries of undeveloped nations and should international bodies do anything about this?
Let’s be honest: agricultural subsidies aren’t anybody’s favorite topic.
Farmers don’t like to talk about them; what self-reliant yeoman wants to admit they’re on welfare? Urban people don’t take an interest in them either; a good reading of the Farm Bill will send even the most stubborn insomniac into a slumber. The right dismisses farm programs as government distortions of the free market, and the left sees them as handouts to agribusiness conglomerates. So why are farm subsidies still in full force? Probably because it’s difficult to have anyone engaged enough to reform them.
There are signs that change is on the horizon, though. In the last few years, farm programs have begun attracting attention from unlikely quarters.
Public health experts have drawn a convincing connection between the kind of farming we subsidize and the quality of food we eat. With CDC research predicting that one in three children born in the year 2000 will in time develop Type II diabetes, incentivizing all-out production of high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and fast-food meat may only deepen our healthcare catastrophe.
Leaders in the climate change community have recently taken up the topic, too, pointing to soil as one of the only carbon sinks capable of storing a meaningful amount of atmospheric CO2. Under subsidized row-crop production (itself powered by fossil fuel fertilizer, petroleum-derived pesticides and diesel tractors), environmentalists warn that this climate-stabilizing potential is––quite literally––eroding.
It is the fallout from the 2008 Global Food Crisis, however, that has spurred much of the recent debate over farm subsidies. The riots that erupted in Senegal and Egypt and toppled the government in Haiti forced legislators in subsidy-driven Europe and the United States to acknowledge the international consequences of distorting agricultural markets at home.
So, with our global economy staring down a climate crisis and an obesity epidemic, we have to ask ourselves: what kind of agriculture are we subsidizing?
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Finding Success in the Policy Cup Competition
Though a young organization, the Wharton Politics & Business Association has been building a healthy legacy on Penn’s campus. Much of this is due to the club’s annual Policy Cup Competition in which students across the University of Pennsylvania community, representing undergraduates and graduates across various fields of study, submit researched policy proposals to be judged by a panel of esteemed academics. The proposals fit within the club’s yearly focus. Of course, this academic year’s theme is “Globalization.” While the theme and applicable research questions change with every year, the process behind it is very consistent; the key to writing a successful policy paper is largely the same regardless of topic.
This October, WPBA Co-VP of Policy Development Doug Eckhardt gave an introduction for this year’s participants. What he presented was an overview of the questions for the current competition as well as tips on how to research and answer the competition prompts. Mr. Eckhardt himself is a former policy cup participant (he and his partner placed third in the competition last year). Perhaps the most pertinent advice given to 2009-2010 Policy Cup competitors regarded choosing a topic on which to write a proposal. Here is a brief summary of his recommendations:
- The topic should be “controversial,” meaning that it will spark debate and require the audience to question what you are presenting. Being forced to respond to difficult questions will require more meticulously researched proposals.
- The proposal should address an important issue rather than be more obscure. In other words, choose something you believe people will care about.
- Manage the scope of the topic your proposal discusses. If you have a general area of interest try to narrow it down to a specific problem under that umbrella. This will give your research greater focus.
- The topic should be of interest to you. Find an issue that will motivate you to remain committed to the competition and produce a well-polished proposal.
- The chosen topic should be “intellectually approachable” to you, meaning it will generate critical thought for you that will be mirrored in those reviewing your proposal.
- Lastly, be sure there are ample statistical references available to augment the roots of your arguments.
To those participating in the policy cup, I hope the following have helped you in some way. For prospective participants in future competitions feel free to keep these in mind as you mull over your decision. The PowerPoint presentation used by Mr. Eckhardt is available online.
A World-Class Evening – Josh Sevin Visits WPBA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: the birthplace of American democracy and a city endowed with immense cultural deposits ranging from cuisine to music. Yet, despite a legacy of innovation the city itself seems to be struggling to distinguish itself in the international context. The City of Philadelphia has yet to reach “world-class” status. At least, that’s the assessment of Josh Sevin of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia. Mr. Sevin, a Philadelphia native and Yale University graduate spoke with WPBA on November 23rd about the city’s challenge to build a globally recognized identity comparable to other American goliaths like New York and Chicago. It is an interesting predicament considering the Greater Philadelphia region has the 9th largest economy in the world; obviously there is more to this matter than simple economics.
“So what does it mean to be world class?” Mr. Sevin proposed to an intimate crowd huddled in Huntsman G65. He went on to explain that in the definition of the Economy League, being world-class means leveraging the assets of the city (culture, higher education, health care) to inspire more people to live, work and invest in the area. Over the course of the past year the organization has worked to identify what cities are world-class and which qualities they generally possess. This is the mandatory step needed to identify what the city must do to remain globally competitive. Mr. Sevin explained that a number of metrics were pooled into five broader categories by which cities are typically judged: human capital, economy, infrastructure, governance and quality of place.
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