Tis The Season… TP Sourcebooks Are Coming!

As a young debater, the end of the summer was always like Christmas: sourcebooks were coming! (It was a very nerdy Christmas, but still…) Finding out what briefs were being published in each sourcebook was something I eagerly looked forward to. This year I’ve had the privilege of leading our research team in putting the 2019-2020 NCFCA and Stoa TP sourcebooks together. It’s thus with great excitement that I get to share with you about those sourcebooks!

Five Reasons to Get Excited About the 2019-2020 Ethos Sourcebooks  

1. Quality Sources

As an editing team, we understand that debaters want evidence that they can trust and defend in a debate round. As such we make sure that every author that is cited in our briefs has the credentials to back up what they say. Our bright-line is that we need to be sure the authors we cite know more about the resolution than the average American.

2. Strategy Notes

Let’s be honest, the topics we debate in the NCFCA and Stoa aren’t always the simplest (energy economics and monetary policy aren’t exactly normal dinner topics). As such, we understand that having strategy notes that help debaters understand how to use our briefs is very important! Every one of our briefs includes such strategy notes, helping you use the evidence to even greater effect.

3. Affordability

This year we’re drastically cutting our costs from last year. We’ve set the goal of producing a sourcebook that is under $50. We get that as a debater there are a bunch of resources you want to buy and we want to make ours as accessible as possible.

4. Solid Cases and Negative Briefs

We’ve carefully selected what we feel are some of the strongest and most unique cases for each league’s resolutions. These are cases you should be able to start using at round robins, on Ziggy, or at your club right away. They are also cases that we believe have the capacity to last the entire season based on their merits.

5. Generics 

The topics you get to debate this year in both the NCFCA and Stoa have a couple of attributes that struck me personally. One of the most significant is just how very broad they are. In the NCFCA, you have been given a topic that bridges domestic and international policy and that extends to tax code, environmentalism, subsidies, national security, and trade. In Stoa, you have been given three entire fields of domestic policy to research! As a result, we’ve taken a cue from COG, whom we previously merged with, and are making sure that our sourcebooks include quality generic briefs that apply to a wide variety of cases. This will make your money and your research stretch further, preparing you for a year full of a multiplicity of reform ideas! Furthermore, these briefs provide you with material and ideas for creating your cases.

Prospective Briefs in the 2019-2020 Ethos Sourcebooks

NCFCA – Energy Policy

Affirmative Cases

·       End Ethanol Subsidies

·       Remove Solar Panel Tariffs

·       Rescind the Fuel Economy Standards Rollback

·       Abolish the Department of Energy

Negative Briefs

·       End Ethanol Subsidies

·       Remove Solar Panel Tariffs

·       Rescind the Fuel Economy Standards Rollback

·       Abolish the Department of Energy

Generic Briefs

·       PRO – Renewable Energy

·       CON – Renewable Energy

·       PRO – Regulations

·       CON – Regulations

·       PRO – Climate Change Mitigation

·       PRO – Climate Change Adaptation

Stoa – Banking, Finance, and Monetary Policy

Affirmative Cases

·       Bring Back the Gold Standard

·       Regulate Cryptocurrency

·       Privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

·       Countervailing Currency Intervention (CCI)

Negative Briefs

·       Bring Back the Gold Standard

·       Regulate Cryptocurrency

·       Privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

·       Countervailing Currency Intervention (CCI) 

Generic Briefs

·       PRO – Banking and Finance Regulations

·       CON – Banking and Finance Regulations

·       PRO – Monetary Policy / Government Intervention / Keynesian Economics 

·       CON – Monetary Policy / Government Intervention / Keynesian Economics 

·       PRO – Federal Student Loans

·       CON – Federal Student Loans

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