The following appeared in a memo from the president of Viva-Tech, a manufacturer of high-tech medical equipment.

“In order to reduce costs, we should close some of our existing small assembly plants and build a large central plant. Grandview would be an ideal location for this new plant. First, of all the locations that we have considered, Grandview has the largest adult population, so that we will be able to staff our plant quickly and easily. Secondly, since the average wages earned by workers in Grandview is less than that in the other locations, we should be able to keep production costs low. Last, as an inducement for us to build there, Grandview’s town council has offered to allow us to operate for the first three years without paying city taxes.”

The president of Viva-Tech recommends that they can reduce their costs by closing some of their small assembly plants and establishing a large central plant in Grandview. The arguer supports his recommendation with the help of three assumptions in a bid to prove that this venture would be a profitable one for Viva-Tech. The first assumption is that the company will be able to find suitable workers for its new plant as Grandview has the highest adult population among all the suitable locations considered by the company for building its central plant. The second assumption is that they will be able to keep their production costs low as the average wages earned by the workers in Grandview is quite low. The third assumption is that the company will benefit from the exemption from paying city taxes for the next three years. In several respects, however, the evidence provided lends little credible support for the argument.

Firstly, the fact that Grandview boasts of a higher adult population than the other locations provides scant evidence for proving that Viva-Tech will be able to hire workers quickly. The arguer makes no mention of the demographic statistics of the population of Grandview. It is likely that the adult population consists more of old people or retired people who are no longer interested in working. One cannot ignore the fact that the adult population would already be employed somewhere for earning their daily bread and it is highly unlikely that they will leave their present jobs to work with Viva-Tech. Moreover, it is likely that the company may not be able to find workers skilled enough for the type of work required in the plant. As the company is a manufacturer of hi-tech medical equipment, there is a requirement of hiring workers who are specifically trained and adequately skilled for the required work. Therefore, without considering all these aspects, the arguer makes an unfair assumption that the large adult population of Grandview would be able to provide workers for Viva-Tech easily and quickly.

Secondly, if the average wages earned by the workers in Grandview are low, it is not necessary that they would work for Viva-Tech for the same wages. It is possible that there are no major industries in Grandview and the current jobs do not demand specific skills and so the workers get low wages. As Viva-Tech needs to employ labor skilled in assembling medical equipments, the workers being hired may demand wages higher than the average wages in Grandview. Moreover, even if the company hires unskilled labor at low costs, they will have to spend a huge amount of time and money in training the unskilled labor for handling the job requirements. Therefore, the second assumption does nothing to prove that labor costs would be reduced if the central plant is built in Grandview.

Thirdly, the arguer has not considered the taxes that will have to be paid after the initial three years are over. It is likely that the Grandview town council will levy heavy taxes after three years. There may be other locations and towns which would offer exemption from city taxes for more than three years. Therefore, as far as the payment of city taxes is concerned, it is likely that there may be other locations which would be beneficial for Viva-Tech in the long run. Considering these and other possible aspects, the arguer cannot rely on the fact that the town council has exempted Viva-Tech from paying taxes for the first three years to bolster his recommendation.

The argument could have been strengthened by providing evidence that proved that Grandview would be able to provide a high number of skilled workers who are willing to work for low wages. Moreover, there is a requirement of a comparative analysis between the taxes being levied by Grandview and those by other locations. In sum, it can be stated that the recommendation is highly fallacious, at least without additional evidence to support it.