Logical Reasoning

PT148 · S4 · Q14 Principle: A government should reduce taxes

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Principle: A government should reduce taxes on imports if doing so would financially benefit many consumers in its domestic economy.

Evidence (Principle)

A government should reduce taxes on imports if doing so would financially benefit many consumers in its domestic economy. FBC → RTI

There is an exception: [The government] should never reduce import taxes if one or more of its domestic industries would be significantly harmed by the added competition. HDI → ~RTI

Conclusion

The government should not reduce taxes on textile imports. ~RTI

Evaluate

The principle describes a situation where the government should reduce taxes on imports, but describes one exception. If the exception is triggered, the government should not reduce these taxes.

If we know for a fact that the exception is being triggered, we can properly conclude that the government should not reduce taxes on textile imports.

If reducing taxes on textile imports will create added competition that harms one or more domestic industries, that triggers the exception.

Goal

Expect an answer to state that reducing taxes on textile imports will create added competition that harms one or more domestic industries. Beware of answers that trigger the normal situation—benefitting many consumers—and answers that involve tangentially related topics which are not actually connected to the principle.

14.

Which one of the following is a statement from which the conclusion can be properly drawn using the principle?

  1. Reducing taxes on textile imports

    Negation

    ~FBC → ~RTI This answer would only connect the principle to the conclusion if we use an illegal negation of the first part of the principle.

    7% picked this

  2. Reducing taxes on textile imports

    Unrelated to Goal Opposite

    An action that does not benefit an industry is not the same as one that harms the industry. And this answer doesn't mention added competition. It's not triggering the exception that's mentioned in the principle. Also, strictly speaking, "many" is consistent with "some," so if anything this answer triggers the first part of the principle. It would lead us to conclude that the government should reduce the taxes.

    6% picked this

  3. The domestic textile industry faces

    Trap

    Unrelated to Goal Out of Scope: export markets This does not tell us that the domestic textile industry will be harmed by these competitors if import taxes are reduced. It does not trigger the exception in the principle. And what happens in "export markets" is actually out of scope. We are not told how reducing import taxes would affect export markets.

    2% picked this

  4. The domestic textile industry and

    Out of Scope

    Out of Scope: benefit less Out of Scope: other measures The principle only involves consumers benefitting from reduced import taxes. It does not involve any comparison between the benefits from reduced import taxes and the benefits from other measures. And a domestic industry benefitting less from something is not the same as it being harmed by something.

    2% picked this

  5. Correct

    The added competition produced by

    Why this is right

    This triggers the exception in the principle by stating that a reduction in import taxes would harm a domestic industry through added competition.

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

    83% picked this

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