Assignment:
Answer all question, one question just need one paragraph
1. With legalization of recreational marijuana in nine states, including California, it may seem as though re-scheduling and full legalization is the only way forward in resolving the current mess. If, on the other hand, the Justice Department were to begin enforcing the federal marijuana laws across the country, what negative impacts would result? Would these impacts extend beyong the states that have opted for legalization?
2. The profitability of sex trafficking is astounding, according to some of the information presented. With an 'acquisition' costs of less than $2,000 and subsequent earnings of almost $30,000 per victim, the traffickers have huge financial incentives to entice, entrap, and abuse these at-risk girls and women.
It would seem that changing this economic equation is a key to eliminating this problem. What would you suggest as ways to increase the acqusition cost or otherwise narrow the profitability of this undegrround business?
3. it seems that a large proportion of counterfeit medicines are advertised and sold via the internet. Do you think it would be feasible for the federal government to ban advertising and sale of medicines over the web? If so, what would be the downside to such actions by our government?
4. Group discussed a number of goods that cross the line between legal and illegal. Would you buy a computer, a cell phone, jewelry, or a pair of shoes that you knew to be counterfeit? If not, what considerations would stop you from making the purchase? Would you buy a genuine item in one of those categories if you you knew it to be distributed via a gray-market? If you would feel differently about these two types of purchases, what would cause this difference?
5. Group made a compelling argument in favor of creating and regulating markets for organ exchange. The data they shared raises an interesting question about the current donation system. If 54% of all US residents are willing to be organ donors at the end of their lives, why don't more donate kidneys while they are alive and healthy? Why are there so few donors that thousands die each year while waiting for a transplant?
6. A couple of case studies in which governments had changed taxation of cigarettes and/or alcohol, and had subsequently experienced changes in teenage usage and dependency rates. In an attempt to reduce the negative impacts from smuggling, should states be encouraged or forced to lower their tax rates, even if teenage consumption increases?
7. Most efforts to reduce the employment of undocumented workers have focused in the supply side - criminalizing unauthorized immigration, deportation and removal of those found working without proper documents, etc. What demand side activities would you support? Should the government make the e-Verify process mandatory and add reporting requirements to the I-9 process? Would it be desirable to prosecute and emprison company managers and executives who willfully and/or repeatedly violate immigration laws?
8. Many music artists seem te less concerned about music piracy than they were a few years ago, perhaps because they see the illegal downloads as a form of advertising that may ultimately help boost total revenues. The recording industry and its workers still seem to be suffering large economic losses, however. Is seems possible that studios will begin to fail, causing artists to face increased difficulty in getting their songs professionally recorded. What do you believe producers of this type of intellectual property should do to protect their economic interests?