Black Market Bodies and Meat Market

#GEA1 Assignment Details

Suppose you are a policy advisor for Governor Scott. He has just informed you that his constituents would like him to comment on the state of organ donation and address the inability of the current system to meet demand. His office is in charge of finding solutions to the difficult issue of organ trade.

He will be addressing the issue in the upcoming commission meeting and needs an economic analysis of the situation completed before then for review. Refer to the articles Black Market Bodies and Meat Market (posted below) to help you begin to your analysis. Use the articles and other references you may find to evaluate the limitations that exist with the current ‘solution’ to meeting organ demand in the US.

The governor asks that you draw upon your critical thinking and problem-solving skills in order to break down the complex problem that exists in the market for organs and help him examine, propose, and support potential solutions. You are encouraged to propose an original solution or contribution even if it deviates from mainstream solutions.

In your analysis you must address the following:

• What is the general state of organ donation in the US according to the first article?
• Consider what would happen if the US did allow payment in exchange for kidney donation. Provide a critical analysis – use the supply/demand diagram to help illustrate and discuss the current state of the market and also what the market would look like in the case of a free market economy (deregulation).
• Who gains and who loses when deregulation occurs? Discuss the efficiency and equity of the market before and after the proposed deregulation.
• Explore the policies that are currently implemented across the globe (i.e. those discussed in the articles – routine removal, presumed consent, organ donor points, “no give, no take”, etc.). Evaluate the limitations of these policies. Also consider how these policies fare in terms of the efficiency vs. equity debate. (you do not need to critique them all, just select 2 or 3 that you find interesting/appealing)
• Come up with a policy proposal of your own that might help deal with the vast shortage of kidneys in the US. Use the supply/demand diagram to show how the policy will decrease the current shortage of kidneys and analyze the impact to society.
• If you had to pick from one of the policies you described, including your new proposal, which would you recommend for the US? Why? (If you feel strongly that our current policy is the best policy this is a valid argument, however you must defend your “no new policy” recommendation).

Steps to Examine How a Market Change Will Affect Consumers and Producers: 

1. Using the methods from Chapter 3, determine how the supply/demand curves will shift.
2. Using the methods from Chapter 3, determine how these shifts will change the equilibrium price/quantity and if a shortage exists/changes.
3. Using the methods from Chapter 4, determine if the market is more or less efficient.
4. Analyze how these changes will affect the consumers, producers, and society.

Keep in mind, Governor Scott is not one for 1,000 page policy briefs. He prefers his analysis to be professional, clear, complete, correct, and most importantly concise. His constituents also require credible sources so be sure to document all references, including but not limited to those listed below. See rubric and Citation Guidelines under GenEd Assignments.

Related Articles:

• #GEA1 Article1 Black Market Bodies.pdf
• #GEA1 Article2 Meat Market.pdf

Policy Analysis (click for assignment details) This is a single writing assignment given during the first half of the course. Students are tasked to “think like an economist” and draw economic conclusions to societal problems. Your analysis must be 3 FULL pages of text (at least 3 no more than 4), double-spaced, 1″ margins, and size 11 Calibri FONT. Title/title page is not included in page count. Graphs, tables, images, and references page should be included at the end of the text and are NOT to be included in the page length requirement.