Economist: A tax is effective

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsPrinciple-Conform

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Stimulus

Economist: A tax is effective if it raises revenue and burdens all and only those persons targeted by the tax. A tax is ineffective, however, if it does not raise significant amount of money to enforce.

What this question is testing

Principle-Conform

The two rules

The economist gives two recipes:

Recipe 1 — effective: if a tax raises revenue AND burdens exactly the people targeted (all of them, no one extra), call it effective.

Recipe 2 — ineffective: if a tax does not raise revenue AND costs a lot to enforce, call it ineffective.

Evaluate

These are sufficient conditions. To trigger Recipe 1, you need both ingredients. Same for Recipe 2. If a fact pattern only matches one of the two ingredients, you cannot fire either rule.

Goal

Find the answer that matches every clause of one recipe and draws the matching conclusion. Watch for answers that only match one half of a recipe — those don't trigger anything.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question

16.

Which one of the following inferences is most strongly supported by the principles stated

Answer choices

Half Scope4% picked this
The tax on cigarettes burdens most, but not all, of the people targeted by it. Thus, if it raises
Principle 1 requires both revenue raised AND the tax burdening all and only those targeted. This answer says the cigarette tax burdens "most, but not all" of those targeted — so the second clause fails. Even if revenue is raised, only one of the two sufficient conditions is met. The principle does not fire, and we cannot conclude the tax is effective.
4%
Half Scope7% picked this
The tax on alcohol raises a modest amount of revenue, but it costs a significant amount of money to enforce.
Principle 2 requires the tax to not raise revenue AND cost a significant amount to enforce. This answer says the alcohol tax raises only "a modest amount" of revenue — but it does raise revenue. The first clause fails (the tax does raise revenue), so Principle 2 cannot conclude ineffectiveness. Modest is not zero.
7%
Correct73% picked this
The tax on gasoline costs a significant amount of money to enforce. Thus, if it does not raise
Why this is right
This answer assumes one of Principle 2's clauses (the gasoline tax costs a significant amount to enforce) and then conditions on the other clause (if it does not raise revenue). If both clauses are met, Principle 2 fires: the tax is ineffective. The structure ("X is true; if Y, then conclude Z") correctly applies a sufficient-condition principle by satisfying both required conditions.
Skill tested: Principle-Conform · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
73%
Half Scope11% picked this
The tax on coal burdens all of the people targeted by it, and this tax does not burden anyone who is not targeted by
Principle 1 requires the tax to raise revenue AND burden all and only those targeted. This answer establishes only the burden clause — that the coal tax burdens all and only those targeted. We are told nothing about whether it raises revenue. Without that, Principle 1 does not fire, and we cannot conclude the tax is effective.
11%
Half Scope5% picked this
The tax on steel does not cost a significant amount of money to enforce, but it does not raise revenue either.
Principle 2 requires the tax to not raise revenue AND cost a significant amount to enforce. This answer says the steel tax does not raise revenue (good) but explicitly does not cost a significant amount to enforce (the second clause fails). Both conditions must hold to conclude ineffectiveness; here only one does. Principle 2 does not fire.
5%

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