LSAT 126 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Politician: Those economists who claim that consumer price…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Consumer prices increased at a greater rate than the 3% average suggested by economists.

REASONING: The politician mentions several products whose prices increased more than 3%.

ANALYSIS: The politician makes a very poor argument. An average is taken by looking at the increase and decrease in the prices of all relevant products. The politician has only mentioned products priced higher than the average. They have not told us if other products decreased in price, or increased less than 3%.

___________

1. The politician did not make any claims about the character of the economists.
2. It shouldn’t matter whether the economists are experts. The most important thing is to figure out whether or not they are correct.
3. No. An example of this would be claiming that life on other planets does not exist because nobody has proven that it does exist. The politician is making a different argument, trying to provide evidence that the economists are incorrect.
4. CORRECT. This is it. The politician mentions only a few products, and gives no evidence that they fairly represent all products. An average must consider all products.
5. Though price increases can be emotional, the politician does not appeal to emotion here. They simply state some (misleading) facts. Those misleading facts can produce an emotional response, but that’s different from a direct appeal to emotion.

Recap: The question begins with “Politician: Those economists who claim that consumer price”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flaw questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.