First try on AWA

Hello GMATCLUB members,

I just did my first practice test and want someone to give me a rough grade for my AWA.

Many thanks

Taha

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 the price increase will generate larger revenues and will also reduce the volume of mail, thereby eliminating the strain on the existing system and contributing to improved morale.”


The solution offered in the above text is very weak in the sense that in it makes many vague assumptions. Initially, the text is assuming that raising the price of postage stamps would alleviate the deterioration of the postal service.Also, the text goes further in making unwarranted assumptions by saying that the aforementioned solution would be effective in addressing the root of the problem. Another assumption made is the fact that a price increase will lead to less mail volume, which is not necessarily true. Lastly, the assumption that increased revenue (and reduced mail volume) will lead to increased morale is not necessarily true. The next few paragraph will address the main weaknesses in the assumptions made.

Raising the price of postage stamps to alleviate the deterioration of the postal service is not necessarily the appropriate way to solve the issue, since the cause of the deterioration isn't identified in the text.Also, the government might not be able to raise prices for such an essential service, thus, a price increase might have a very negative effect on the purchasing power of businesses and households alike, which could, although marginally, reduce economic growth, something that the government wouldn't want to face.

Secondly, a price increase will not lead to less mail volume, especially if this postal service is dominating the sector and is the only services that customers could use in that price range. On the other hand raising the price might cause a massive repercussion, where consumers will shift to other (private) providers of the service that offer the same price, and perhaps, better additional service than the government's postal service. Thus,the government's revenues might not evne increase at all.

Lastly , increased morale is not necessarily a result of the above, since morale is often affected by a range of interconnected factors beside the amount of mail workers are handling. The text also didn't mention how exactly is an increase in revenues will benefit the workers, since its unclear whether the government will increase workers' salary as a result of an increase in revenues.

The argument could be strengthened if the author mentions an example of another country, with similar postal service market characteristics, where an increase in prices have led to a reduction in mail services and an increase in revenues simultaneously. The fact that morale would improve could have been strengthened by a reference to one of the employees or a survey that shows that the job is very intense and that reduced mail would help improve morale.