#10 - It is a principle of economics that a nation can

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must be true. The correct answer choice is (D)

The conditionality in this short stimulus is introduced by the phrase “only when.” This sets up the
following conditional relationship, which is the economic principle referred to in the question stem:

EEG = a nation can experience economic growth
CCB = consumer confidence balanced with a small amount of consumer skepticism

EEG CCB

The question stem, although worded a bit differently than the usual Must Be True question, requires
you to select an answer that would follow from the economic principle. As discussed earlier
in the chapter, when you are given a conditional statement in the stimulus and a Must Be True
question stem, immediately search for an answer that is either the contrapositive of the conditional
statement or the repeat form, and avoid Mistaken Reversals or Negations. Answer choice (D) is the
contrapositive of the economic principle and is the correct answer.

Answer choice (A): This is a classic Mistaken Reversal incorrect answer. The answer choice simply
reverses the two terms of the economic principle. Again, just because the necessary condition occurs
does not mean that the sufficient condition must occur.

Answer choice (B): This answer is a version of a Mistaken Reversal: the answer reverses the terms of
the economic principle and at the same time confuses the reader by attempting to equate “prevailing
attitude is not skepticism” with “consumer confidence balanced with a small amount of consumer
skepticism.” The Reversal is sufficient to eliminate this answer, and of course the two phrases do not
equate.

Answer choice (C): This is an Opposite Answer. According to the contrapositive of the economic
principle, if a nation does not have a balanced consumer confidence, then that nation will not
experience economic growth. This is the opposite of the answer choice, which stealthily drops the
“not” that should appear before “experience economic growth.”

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer. The answer choice manipulates the terms a bit,
forcing you to recognize that the negation of “consumer confidence balanced with a small amount
of skepticism” is phrased as the “prevailing attitude of consumers is exclusively confidence” (italics
added). This creates the contrapositive:

CCB EEG

Answer choice (E): This answer is another version of a Mistaken Reversal. The only difference
between this answer choice and answer choice (A) is that this answer plays a Shell Game and
reverses the confidence and skepticism elements from the stimulus.

[cboles]

I chose A for this question based off my diagramming:

EG->CC/CS

Is A wrong because it is repeating what is said in the stimulus?

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, Cboles,

It is important to describe the relationship in the stimulus before diagramming (if you diagram). To begin, what are the elements in the stimulus that are required for something else?

Here, both consumer confidence and consumer skepticism are required for there to be economic growth. Similar to your diagram, you would diagram the reasoning as follows:

eg cc & cs

Answer choice A is a Mistaken Reversal (affirming the consequent/fallacy of the converse): that which is necessary is mistakenly considered sufficient. A diagram of answer choice A would look like this:

cc & cs eg

Answer choice D follows from the stimulus. In the absence of consumer skepticism, a necessary condition for economic growth has not been met. Therefore, economic growth cannot occur. When a necessary condition is negated, the sufficient condition cannot be true. I hope this helps.

[christianitylove]

How come the statement "only when consumer confidence is balanced with a small amount of consumer skepticism" is not the sufficient?
Because if you rephrase, it will become, "IF the consumer confidence is balanced with a small amount of consumer skepticism, then the nation can experience economic growth."

I also do not understand the idea of "exclusive"

[Francis O'Rourke]

Hi CL,

The phrase "only when" will always indicate a necessary condition. Similarly, "only if" should be interpreted as a necessary indicator. Make sure to never confuse these necessary indicators with a sufficient indicator.

If this isn't clear, think about the difference between the following two statements:

1. I go to the movies only when it is raining
2. If it is raining, I go to the movies

The first statement tells you that I never go to the movies on sunny days, but if it's raining, I may or may not go to the movies. The second statement tells you that every single day that it rains, you can find me at the movie theater, and I may or may not go to the movies if it is sunny.

[mahmed19]

Hello,

I am still a little confused on why B is incorrect, do you mind explaining that answer choice and why it is a mistaken reversal. Thank you in advance!

Maliha

[Poonam Agrawal]

Hi Maliha!

Here's the conditional statement presented in the stimulus (note that it comes from the use of "only when"):

EEG = a nation can experience economic growth
CCB = consumer confidence balanced with a small amount of consumer skepticism

EEG CCB

Answer choice (B) is about any nation that does not have a prevailing attitude of skepticism, i.e. consumer confidence is balanced with a small amount of consumer skepticism (CCB). Then it says that these nations will have economic growth. So, answer choice (B) is diagrammed as follows:

CCB EEG

This is a mistaken reversal because we have simply flipped the order of our original conditional statement. We can't do this and create a statement that is supported by the stimulus. Recall that we have to go one step further to create the contrapositive, which includes negating both the sufficient and necessary conditions. This is why answer choice (B) is a mistaken reversal, and therefore, an incorrect answer.

Hope that helps!

[mahmed19]

Thank you Poonam!

[SGD2021]

Hello, is it recommended that we diagram statements like "consumer confidence is balanced with a small amount of consumer skepticism" as one instead of two terms? The bible diagrams it as one term, CCB, so I wonder if that's the recommended way (maybe because it is quicker/simpler?) instead of two terms, such as EEG--> CC and CS. What might be a strategy for determining when it is best to diagram a statement as one versus two terms, especially when the statement does not have a clear word like "and" in it?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

It's really case specific, SGD. Here, I like the one term for the diagram because it's a complete idea. Sometimes the parts of a conditional are independent, and sometimes they go together. For example, this stimulus it's a complete idea. Consumer confidence balanced with consumer skepticism. It's not consumer balance and consumer skepticism as independent ideas. It's a balance of the two.

Other conditionals will have two conditions that are more independent. For example, I will go to the Browns game if it is at least 30 degrees and tickets are under 50 dollars. In this conditional, the two necessary conditions (30 degrees and 50 dollars) are independent. I would diagram that as two separate things because they contain two separate ideas.

Hope that helps!