Logical Reasoning

PT137 · S4 · Q10 Economist: In free market systems

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Economist: In free market systems, the primary responsibility of corporate executives is to determine a nation's industrial technology, the pattern of work organization, location of industry, and resource allocation.

Conclusion (thus)

Business executives have become public officials.

Evidence

In a free market, corporate executives make significant decisions about industrial technology, work organization, location of industries, and resource allocation. Despite being subject to consumer control, they decide on what to produce and in what quantities.

Evaluate

GIVEN THAT, business execs are making a bunch of decisions that affect the country at large, HOW CAN WE ARGUE they have not become public officials?

One way to weaken this argument is to challenge the notion that the duties performed by executives align with what defines a public official.

Goal

Identify an answer that shows a key difference between the roles or responsibilities of business executives and public officials, thereby breaking the assumed equivalency in the argument.

10.

Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the economist's argument?

  1. Most of the decisions made

    Strengthens

    This choice equates the decisions made by executives in a free market with those made by government officials in centrally planned economies, reinforcing the analogy that executives act like public officials.

    7% picked this

  2. Correct

    Making decisions about patterns of

    Why this is right

    This weakens the argument by differentiating executive responsibilities from the essence of what public officials do, thereby severing the supposed link between executive roles and public duties.

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

    85% picked this

  3. The salaries of business executives

    Strengthens (if anything)

    This choice notes that executive salaries are proportionate with high-ranking officials, making them seem more similar, which strengthens the conclusion that executives are like public officials.

    0% picked this

  4. What a country produces and

    No Impact

    This asserts that corporate executives do not have complete control over what a country produces, which is a super weak (thus, super unlikely to be correct) idea and echoes what we already heard, which is that consumers have significant control over what and how much to make.

    5% picked this

  5. Public officials and business executives

    Strengthens (if anything)

    This indicates that public officials and business executives often cooperate in decision-making, further supporting the analogy that executives act like public officials by showing them working together on key issues.

    3% picked this

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