Citing the fact that the real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita

Would someone please explain why question 2's answer is not B:
"It was less than it had been between 1873 and 1973 because labor productivity grew less between 1973 and 1997 than it had between 1873 and 1973."

It is true that it was 1.5% slower than it had been between 1873 and 1973.
It is also true that it was because the slow growth rate of labor productivity. Without such slow growth rate of labor productivity, the growth rate of real GDP would have surpassed that between 1873 and 1973:

"However, because labor productivity grew by only one percent in 1997, real GDP per capita grew more slowly in 1997 than it had on average between 1873 and 1973."

We also know that the 24 years preceding it, the rate had been the same:
"One point these journalists overlooked is that in 1997, as in the twenty-four years immediately preceding it...."

Thank you!

Could anyone please explain why Q3 answer (A) is incorrect?

3. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is the reason that the author faults the journalists referred to in highlight text?

(A) They believe that the real GDP per capita in 1997 was higher than the real GDP per capita had ever been before.

Agree with WoundedTiger. Thanks for your explanation

Question 3

Before we take a look at why (A) is not the correct answer to this question, have a look at this post and this post for breakdowns of the passage that are relevant to this question.

Now take a look at (A) for question 3:
The author doesn't FAULT the journalists for saying this, he/she actually AGREES with them, as you can see by this bit of the passage:

...the real GDP is almost always higher than ever before; it falls only during recessions.

What the author does is disagree with the conclusions the journalists take from this fact -- this is what is in the rest of the passage.

Since the author does not criticize the journalists for stating that the real GDP per capita in 1997 was higher than the real GDP per capita had ever been before, (A) cannot be the correct answer.

Compare this to (E):
As explained in the posts linked above, the key thing to notice in this passage is just because the real GDP was higher in 1997 than ever before does NOT necessarily mean that the economy performed better than it ever has. The journalists are criticized because they didn't look at the entire picture (i.e. historical context). They looked at one piece of data and jumped to a conclusion -- this is why (E) is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!

Hi GMATNinja

I picked C for this question, but was tempted by Choice B as well during the test. My ultimate reason for choosing C over B was that the author's comment about the increase in Real GDP does not CONTRADICT the claims of the journalist. Rather it just explains how the impact is muted given that the Real GDP almost always increases. Am I on the right track with my thinking here? Thank you

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