Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT155 S1 Q14 ExplanationJones: A budget deficit is good

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

TopicsMethod

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Stimulus

Jones: A budget deficit is good for the country's finances; it government spending.

Espinosa: That's like saying that reaching the credit limit on your credit cards is a good thing for your finances because it discourages you from spending excessively. While it's true that reaching your credit limit will likely discourage you from spending excessively, it's still poor financial in the first place. The same goes for governments.

What this question is testing

Method

Your task

Describe how the argument proceeds — the technique it uses to reach its conclusion.

Common trap

Answers that describe a method the argument doesn't actually use.

Winning move

Track the role each statement plays, then match that to the choice describing the same moves.

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

The question
14.

The strategy Espinosa uses in responding to Jones's argument

Answer choices, explained

  1. Correct85% picked this

    provide an argument that is analogous to the one given by Jones but that

    Why this is right

    Espinosa did indeed provide an analogous argument. Jones was talking about a government's debt level and Espinosa analogized it to an individual's debt level. How do we justify the "clearly fallacious" part of the answer? 1. Common Sense When we rebut someone by saying, "That would be like saying X is true", it's always implied that X is not true. 2. The rest of E's argument She establishes that in her analogous situation, it would be wrong to say that maxing out your credit cards is good for your finances, saying "it's poor financial management".

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

  2. Not Circular5% picked this

    demonstrate that Jones's position presupposes what it sets out

    The language of "premise restates the conclusion / premise assumes the conclusion / assumes what it sets out to prove / presupposes what is seeks to establish" is how we describe a Circular Argument, one in which there wasn't any premise. Espinosa definitely isn't accusing Jones of having made a circular argument. Jones' premise was about discouraging spending and Espinosa concedes the truth of that premise.

  3. Out of Scope: empirical evidence3% picked this

    offer empirical evidence that undermines Jones's

    Empirical evidence means measurable, observable data. Espinosa didn't use any data, like "Countries that have higher budget deficits have lower living standards". She just used a hypothetical analogy.

  4. No Personal Accusation2% picked this

    argue that Jones's reasoning about finances is questionable because of Jones's poor management

    Espinosa never accuses Jones of poorly managing his own personal finances.

  5. Out of Scope: overgeneralization5% picked this

    suggest that Jones's conclusion is more general than is warranted by the

    Espinosa isn't saying, "You're right, but only for a smaller subset of things. You're wrong to widen the applicability of this as far as you have." Espinosa is saying, "You're wrong. It's dumb to think that debt is good."

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