For Paper #2 you will be drafting a proposal for your Final Position Paper due Week 8. This will be a three (3) page paper. Paper should be single spaced using Times New Roman 12-point font and submitted as a PDF document.
INSTRUCTIONS
Your Paper #2 – Proposal Paper will provide the following information:
Page 1
You will address the following:
Topic/Issue: (brief paragraph) – Provide a brief summary of the field you intend to apply blockchain and the specific process, methodology or use case you have identified. Again, this is not the overall field in general. The Municipal Bond case was provided as an example above and in the Writing a Position Paper – Sample Outline. Another example would be in the Healthcare field the application of blockchain based medical records by the US Veteran’s Administration would provide benefit to military veterans exiting the military through easy transfer and verification of military medical records to civilian doctors and hospitals.
Summary of Argument: (three (3) brief paragraphs) - This will be three short paragraphs providing the three (3) points you will use to defend your position (argument) on the application of blockchain technology. See Argument in Writing a Position Paper. These three (3) paragraphs only need to be 2-3 sentences each to provide a brief identification of the points you will argue. These just need to identify the points and the entire argument around each of the points.
Page 2
Provide your outline for the paper. A sample of how to draft this is provided below. This is an outline created from the Municipal Bond sample in the Writing a Position Paper – Sample Outline.
Page 3
Provide a reference page of initially identified sources for your paper. This does not need to be an exhaustive list of reference but at least five (5) should be provided in proper APA format. Remember these need to be academic or professional resources. A blog or just basic information listed on a website are not sufficient for the minimum number required.
The Paper #2 – Position Paper proposal is due the end of Week 5 and will be submitted through the link in the Week 5 Content folder.
Sample Outline for Page 2.
This is not a template. This is an example of an outline. You are expected to develop your own outline with information you intend to utilize for the Final Position Paper. This outline is a little more developed than needed for this assignment but all points need to be covered in your outline even if just in a cursory manner.
I. Introduction
A. Introduce the topics of blockchain and municipal bonds B. Background on the issuance and trade of municipal bonds
C. Assert the thesis: The municipal bond market needs to implement blockchain infrastructure to tokenize and fractionalize municipal bond issuances.
II. Argument
A. The minimum share cost of $5,000 makes access to these tax-free investment instruments prohibitive. Tokenization and fractionalization would make municipal bonds available to a greater portion of the public.
B. Municipal bonds are purchased whole by large financial institutions meaning that the funds to repay the bond will exit the municipality leading to a decline in local wealth generation. Tokenization and fractionalization would provide a lower cost threshold to entry and local citizens would be able to benefit from investment in their own or nearby communities.
C. Municipal bonds are only traded via telephone. The digital access by investors to most markets has been prevalent for nearly two decades. The utilization of blockchain as the infrastructure of municipal bond issuances would lead to the modernization of this market.
III. Counter Argument
A. Summarize the counterclaims
- Too costly to implement
- Lack of interest by general public
- Municipalities are conservative and will not adopt
- Current regulations do not allow this type of trading
B. Provide supporting information for counterclaims C. Refute the counterclaims (explain why these are not accurate or why the new process would be better)
- Cost savings would more than cover implementation of cost for issuance and trading would significantly decrease with efficiencies and limiting of third parties
- Lack of interest is primarily due to current system where municipal bonds are not available to the general public
- The lower cost of issuing municipal bonds on blockchain based systems will reduce the cost to municipalities to issue. Reducing budget costs are usually more important than ensuring traditional processes
- MSRB regulations can be changed. MSRB has already started to review this potential development. Also, the system can be built on current regulations and would not be in violation.
IV. Conclusion
A. Restatement of proposition and argument demonstrating how the arguments prove or support your position
B. Provide a plan of action but do not introduce new information