Economist: In any country, inflation

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: most effective means4% picked this

   Having stability in the production of goods and services is the most effective means of

   Nothing in this argument is comparing effectiveness. The author is never recommending one form of preventing inflation/deflation vs. another. He's just claiming that his country doesn't experience much of either, regardless of whether his country prevents it via the most effective means, the 2nd most effective means, the 3rd most effective, etc. The word "most" is wrong 99% of the time we see it in Necessary Assumption answers.

   4%
2. B

   Too Strong: necessary12% picked this

   Having an anchor such as gold is necessary for the stability of a

   The author just mentions that his country has a gold standard and indicates that this is sufficient to keep the money supply very stable. He never suggests that this is the only way to keep a money supply stable.

   12%
3. C

   Correct68% picked this

   The production of goods and services in the economist's country is unlikely

   Why this is right

   We predicted the missing idea that "in his country, production of goods and services is also very stable". If production is very stable, then production is unlikely to grow markedly. This answer is written in a Defender style, but it's an implication of the author's assumption that production is stable. It would be just as correct to say this argument assumes that "production is unlikely to shrink markedly". If we negate this answer, it becomes a big objection: the production of goods and services is likely to grow markedly If the money supply is very stable but production grows markedly, then deflation will occur, which would go against the author's conclusion.

   Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   68%
4. D

   Relative vs. Absolute Irrelevant Comparison10% picked this

   Inflation is no more likely to occur in the economist's country

   The author is only saying that both deflation and inflation are very unlikely, in an Absolute sense. He hasn't assumed anything about their Relative likelihood. I can say that "dying in a terrorist attack" and "dying by being hit by lightning" are both very unlikely. That doesn't mean I'm assuming that "dying in a terrorist attack is no more likely than dying by lightning". It might be that one of them has a 0.05% chance of occurring and the other has a 0.02% chance. Both of those are still very unlikely.

   10%
5. E

   Too Strong: most effective means6% picked this

   A stable money supply is the most effective means of

   Nothing in this argument is comparing effectiveness. The author is never recommending one form of preventing inflation/deflation vs. another. He's just claiming that his country doesn't experience much of either phenomenon, regardless of whether his country prevents inflation via the most effective means, the 2nd most effective means, the 3rd most effective, etc. The word "most" is wrong 99% of the time we see it in Necessary Assumption answers.

   6%