Economist: If the belief were to become widespread that losing one's job is not a sign of personal shortcomings but ...

Mehran on September 18, 2018

@djayasinghe good news is that (D) is not the answer here. (A) is the correct answer.

Where did you see (D) as the correct answer for this question?

Jvjk on January 11, 2019

Can you please explain this question?

Christy-Earls on May 9, 2019

Yes I'd also love an explanation for this one

Victoria on May 9, 2019

Hello @Jvjk and @Christy-Earls,

This is a must be true question. This means that we are looking for the answer choice that must be true based on the information presented in the passage.

Let's start by mapping out the argument.

If beliefs regarding the reasons for job loss change - > societal demand for government control of the economy will grow

If societal demand for government control of the economy does not grow - > there is no change in beliefs regarding the reasons for job loss

If societal demand for government control of the economy grows - > economic disaster

If there is no economic disaster - > societal demand for government control of the economy has not grown.

Now let's go through the answer choices.

B is incorrect because it is not supported by the passage. The economist does not provide any information regarding how one may individually protect oneself against impersonal social forces. Rather, they solely discuss government control of the economy as a potential way to protect individuals from these impersonal social forces that lead to job loss.

C is incorrect because it is not supported by the passage. The economist takes no stance on whether government should interfere with economic forces or not. They solely state that societal demand for government interference in the economy will increase if the beliefs regarding the reasons for job loss change. They do not take a stance on whether this increase in societal demand is good or bad.

D is incorrect because it is not supported by the passage. The economist provides no information regarding the current state of public belief surrounding the reasons for job loss. Therefore, we can draw no conclusions on whether societal demand for government control of the economy is growing or not.

E is incorrect as it is entirely irrelevant to the passage. The economist does not discuss responsibility for economic disasters or military invasions and, thus, this answer choice is not supported by the passage.

This leaves A as the correct answer. This is also supported by our mapping of the argument above. Using the transitive property, we can claim that:

If beliefs regarding the reasons for job loss change - > societal demand for government control of the economy will grow - > economic disaster

If beliefs regarding the reasons for job loss change - > economic disaster

As we can see, the conclusion drawn using the transitive property is identical to the statement in A, making this the correct answer choice.

Hope this was helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.