#10 - Economist: If the belief were to become widespread

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Christine,

The problem is that you are taking the necessary part of the conditional as something that is always true. The stimulus says that IF the belief becomes widespread, there would be growth in the demand for government control of the economy. If the belief does not become widespread, we have no idea what happens. I can see where answer choice (D) is tempting because it uses terms that are directly from the stimulus. However, since it's the necessary part of the conditional in the stimulus, we don't actually know that it has to be true in the absence of the sufficient condition.

Hope that helps!

[Dancingbambarina]

Hi,

Surely the conclusion is causal, but it still would not deter E from being correct? "Lead to" is as causal as it gets, I thought.

Thanks so much.

[Amber Thomas]

Hi Dancingbambarina!

Premise: Widespread Belief --> Growth in Government
Conclusion: Growth in Government --> Economic Disaster

From this, we can make the following chain:

Widespread Belief --> Growth in Government --> Economic Disaster
Widespread Belief --> Economic Disaster

The conclusion is conditional, as diagrammed above-- if there is such growth in government, then there will be an economic disaster. Statements can, at times, be both causal and conditional at the same time. This chain leads us to Answer Choice A, as it is directly supported by the conditional relationships outlined in the stimulus.

Answer Choice E is out of scope, as it has nothing to do with the conditional relationships outlined in the stimulus, and we have no cause to connect the concepts of economic disasters and military invasions. In fact, in the circumstances outlined by the stimulus, people would be indirectly responsible for an economic disaster, if they were to push for greater government control over the economy.

I hope this helps!