Economist: Some critics of the media have contended that negative news reports on the state of the economy can actual...

Mehran on November 13, 2017

Hi @JayDee8732, thank you for your post. This is an Errors in Reasoning question. Let's first examine the stimulus carefully.

The economist presents an argument. She notes that some media critics claim that negative news reports on the state of the economy actually harm the economy, because such reports damage people's confidence in the economy, and this lack of confidence in turn adversely (negatively) affects people's willingness to spend money. But, counters the economist, studies show that spending trends correlate with people's confidence in *their own immediate economic situations,* so the media critics are mistaken.

This is a flawed argument, because the negative news reports may actually affect people's confidence in their own immediate economic situations! This is answer choice (D).

Hope this helps!