#26 - Commentator: For a free market to function properly

[kappe]

Please explain this assumption question- how is answer choice B correct? Please take me through the whole process of how I should have got the answer.

[Nicholas Bruno]

Hi Kappe,

This question is actually a justify the conclusion question. We are looking for the missing gap between the premises and the conclusion. So first, focus on the conclusion:

Conclusion: the auto repair industry does not constitute a properly functioning free market

When do we have a properly functioning market (according to the stimulus):

Premise: each prospective buyer of an item must be able to . . . compare the prices charged for the item to what the item is worth

So what are we missing? We are missing the premise linking those two statements, i.e. that the auto repair industry is an industry where the prospective buyer is not able to compare the prices charged to what the item is worth.

With that prephrase, we can attack the answer choices. Answer Choice B fits exactly what we predicted.

I hope that helps!

[MBG13]

I'm not sure that I understand why B is correct. I selected C and I understand now why this is wrong, but B doesn't seem right either. It seems more like a strengthen-type answer that may strengthen a little bit, but not 100% like a justify question should.

I expected to see something more along the lines that buyers can't contact/compare prices.

[thomasm20]

MBG13,

I also put C for my answer. I suspect C is insufficient to justify the conclusion since the auto repair shops may give other forms of estimates that are not written (digital/verbal/etc). Also, the stimulus requires people to know what the item is worth for industry to function properly in a free market, so B seems correct to me for those reasons.

[Adam Tyson]

Hey guys, let me see if I can help out here. Nicholas' explanation is on point here, and I am assuming you both read it, so I'll just try to expand on it some.

The purpose of the question is to prove (justify) the conclusion - we have to show that the auto repair industry is absolutely, definitely not an example of a properly functioning free market.

Answer C falls short - so what if you can't always get a written estimate? The issue is whether you can get the price, but that could be from advertising, or perhaps from oral estimates, right? A lack of written estimates is only a partial problem, not a justifying problem, because there could be other ways to get those prices.

Answer B, however, crushes it. In the stimulus we are told that in a properly functioning free market, EACH prospective buyer must be able to get that info and make that comparison of price to worth. If there is even one single buyer who cannot do that, then we haven't met the definition, and it is NOT a properly functioning free market. Answer B tells us that SOME people cannot make that comparison (because they do not know what to compare the price to - they do not know the true worth of the repairs). If even one person cannot make the comparison, the conclusion is justified, and B ensures us that there is at least one such person. Boom!

Does that clear things up? Let us know!

[lsatrhea]

Hi-- can someone explain why A is incorrect?

Thanks!

[Alex Bodaken]

lsatrhea,

Thanks for the question! (A) ends up falling short because it doesn't prove that people are unable to "contact a large number of independent prospective sellers and compare the prices charged for the item to what the item is worth." It suggests that many people don't do that, but it doesn't say that they can't. By contrast, answer choice (B) notes that some people who are shopping for auto repairs cannot determine what they are worth.

Hope that helps!
Alex

[ronaldofenomeno]

Hey guys, let me see if I can help out here. Nicholas' explanation is on point here, and I am assuming you both read it, so I'll just try to expand on it some.

The purpose of the question is to prove (justify) the conclusion - we have to show that the auto repair industry is absolutely, definitely not an example of a properly functioning free market.

Answer C falls short - so what if you can't always get a written estimate? The issue is whether you can get the price, but that could be from advertising, or perhaps from oral estimates, right? A lack of written estimates is only a partial problem, not a justifying problem, because there could be other ways to get those prices.

Answer B, however, crushes it. In the stimulus we are told that in a properly functioning free market, EACH prospective buyer must be able to get that info and make that comparison of price to worth. If there is even one single buyer who cannot do that, then we haven't met the definition, and it is NOT a properly functioning free market. Answer B tells us that SOME people cannot make that comparison (because they do not know what to compare the price to - they do not know the true worth of the repairs). If even one person cannot make the comparison, the conclusion is justified, and B ensures us that there is at least one such person. Boom!

Does that clear things up? Let us know!

Hi,

I understand the reasoning behind your answer, but what if some individuals who are shopping for auto repairs cannot determine the worth of these repairs because they have mental deficiencies? This wouldn't be the fault of the auto repairs industry.

[Dana D]

Hey Ronald,

The stimulus says only that in order for the free market to function, each buyer must be able to compare the prices charged to what the item is worth - they need to be able to compare two different numbers. The buyers themselves are not determining the worth of the item, they would just need to be able to reference an objective universal value that is the "worth." The problem with the auto repair industry, then, is that some buyers cannot do this comparison between prices charged and the item's worth. We know buyers can see advertised prices, so they can see prices charged, so they must be missing the other critical factor necessary for a free market - the worth of the item.

I wouldn't use hypothetical situations tied to mental capacity or being able-bodied on the test unless the stimulus specifically addresses those issues or implies they are relevant to the question.