GRE Sample Essay 12

The following appeared as part of an article in a Dillton newspaper.

"In an effort to bring new jobs to Dillton and stimulate the city's flagging economy, Dillton's city council voted last year to lower the city's corporate tax rate by 15 percent; at the same time, the city began offering generous relocation grants to any company that would move to Dillton. Since these changes went into effect, two new factories have opened in Dillton. Although the two factories employ more than 1,000 people, the unemployment rate in Dillton remains unchanged. The only clear explanation for this is that the new factories are staffed with out-of-town workers rather than Dillton residents."

Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.

Response for GRE Sample Essay 12

The article explains the steps taken by Dillton council to bring jobs and stimulate Dillton’s flagging economy by lowering the corporate tax by 15%. The author did not give any information on the amount of tax reduction given to companies. The tax relief might not be much when compared to the tax reduction given by other regions to attract businesses and companies. There might be a case where the corporate tax reduction of 15% was not reasonable for many companies which led them not to consider Dillton as a good place to do business in. Therefore very few companies managed to go there and begin their operations. 

There is mention of relocation grants given to companies that would move to Dillton. Even after giving tax reduction and relocation grants, only two companies wanted to begin their operations in that region. Getting only two companies who want to do business in the region shows that the economic situation in the region was not that good for companies to open their units there. Also, the grants did not lure them enough to relocate to the region which can even mean that the efforts made by the council were not enough to attract investments in the area. 

It is claimed by the author that there was no change in the unemployment rate in the region even after the two companies started functioning and gave employment to more than 1,000 people. In fact, the author’s claim is flawed because there is no clear information given in the article about the number of job seekers before and after the companies employed people. The unemployment rate is defined as the ratio of the number of people who are given jobs to the number of unemployed people seeking jobs. If there was no change in the unemployment rate, it could mean that there was an increase in job seekers or an increase in unemployment due to other companies laying off their employees. It means the change in the unemployment rate does not just depend on one factor but it also depends on various factors. In Dillton, there might be some factors which led the unemployment rate not to change like some people who actually not seeking jobs earlier were also looking for jobs due to some unavoidable or unplanned situations (including emergencies or sudden need of money). The existing employees of other factories might have joined the two companies so it could also become a factor that led the unemployment rate not to change.

The explanation given for this unchanged employment rate in Dillton is that those companies staffed workers from other towns rather than Dillton residents. This claim is biased and blames the two companies for not employing the local residents but it lacks sufficient reasons why it happened. There could be many reasons for hiring out-of-town workers which might include local residents who were not fit for jobs, they lack the required and important skills needed for jobs, etc. Staffing or hiring might be done purely on the basis of skills required for performing certain duties on jobs. So if the local people who were seeking jobs were not skilled enough to be employed by the two companies, it was not the fault of the companies but the onus was on the individuals seeking employment to develop their skills. Moreover, to a certain extent, the local administration also could have helped the local job seekers to get employed by providing them with sufficient training and development opportunities.

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GRE Essay Score

This article scores a 4.5 because:

The article presents a thoughtful analysis of the given argument with cogent reasons. The analysis is supported with relevant examples wherever needed, thus conveying the central idea effectively. The article does a satisfactory job of explaining the crux of the analysis. The article points out the bias in terms of employment, showing an in-depth understanding of the argument and issue at hand. GRE Essay Topics with Answers

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