LSAT 130 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q19

LR Question 19 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Economist: Our economy’s weakness is the direct result

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: Lowering taxes would help the economy.

REASONING: Consumers are reluctant to spend, and this hurts the economy.

ANALYSIS: The economist utterly failed to make a connection between tax rates, and consumer spending. They are assuming lower taxes lead to more spending.

You might think “obviously lower taxes boost spending!” And that does seem like a fair assumption. But it’s still an assumption! It’s not something explicitly included in the argument.

The other facts such as high prices and low wages are just there to distract you from the fact that the economist didn’t justify their assumption about income taxes.

___________

1. The economist doesn’t need to assume a link between consumer spending and prices. They only have to assume that increased consumer spending will help the economy.
2. Like A, this is just combining two concepts found in the stimulus. The author doesn’t need to assume a link between consumer spending and incomes.
3. The economist doesn’t need to assume wages will get worse without tax cuts! They only need to assume that wages won’t fall further and negate the effect of tax cuts.
4. CORRECT. If this isn’t true, then why would tax cuts help the economy? The author said that lack of consumer spending is directly responsible for the economy’s weakness.
   Negation: Lowering income taxes won’t affect consumers’ willingness to spend.
5. The economist doesn’t mention government spending as a factor, so this is irrelevant.