LSAT 138 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q18

RC Question 18 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Make sure you understand what ‘underground river’ means.

Economists were always aware of the pin factory. They understood that increasing returns to scale existed.

But they couldn’t model increasing returns. So while economics was influenced by the pin factory, it was a hidden, ‘underground’ influence.

The fifth paragraphs shows that better math allowed economists to model the pin factory.

___________

1. Actually, the scientific aspirations of economics were what blocked economists from taking the pin factory idea seriously. See second half of paragraph 4.
2. Warsh’s book just describes the conflicting ideas in Smith’s book. Better mathematical modeling was what allowed the pin factory to be taken seriously. See the final paragraph.
3. CORRECT. See last two sentences of paragraph 5. The new mathematical methods allowed economists to model the pin factory.
4. The tendency of industries towards monopoly is an effect of the pin factory. The passage never mentioned an increase in this tendency. It was better math that allowed the pin factory to be modeled.
5. Economists didn’t lower their standards. Instead they created a better model. See last two sentence of paragraph 5.