The Anti-Economist Problem Number One Summary

The article by Jeff Madrick entitled, “The Anti-Economist: Problem Number One” makes a persuasive argument for eliminating child poverty in the United States. The title of this article implies child poverty should be the top priority for government officials. The author provides examples of how other countries are addressing the issue, as well as statistics to support his claims. Madrick makes several costly suggestions for changing public policy to decreasing child poverty in the United States. However, the author does not provide his readers a means of funding the proposed changes. Moreover, Madrick’s solutions have not been proven to be successful. The article by Atul Gawande entitled, “The Checklist: If Something So Simple Can Transform Intensive Care, What Else Can It Do” also makes a persuasive argument for change in standardizing health care processes to reduce complications, such as hospital-acquired infections. Again, the title of this article grabs the reader’s attention. Gawande suggests a single solution for improving health care and provides evidence to support the proposed solution is effective and feasible for medical institutions to implement. Although Madrick’s argument is a sorrowful

Furthermore, all three authors make a good argument for change regarding important topics, and the topics are relevant for the period they are written. As a matter of fact, all three issues are relevant today. Textbooks are still outrageously expensive, child poverty remains an issue in the United States, and hospital-acquired infections continue to plague our health care system. Finally, both articles align with the objectives of this course, including writing for a specific purpose and composing original arguments using ethos, logos, and