shabuzen102 wrote:
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.
Careful with your reading here! The passage states that "real GDP per capita grew nearly one-half percent more slowly" — that's just under 0.5%, not 1.5%.
Quote:
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!
Again, be careful as you read. The passage tells us that
the average growth rate in real GDP per capita was the same in 1997 as it was during the 24 years immediately before 1997.
However,
this rate is a completely different measurement than "labor productivity." Labor productivity is defined here as "output per hour of goods and services" — in other words, GDP
per hour worked, which is NOT equal to GDP
per capita. The same goes for average growth rates in productivity; they are not the same as average growth rates in GDP per capita.
The passage only mentions labor productivity measured
during 1997 and
from 1873-1973. We know nothing about labor productivity from 1973-1997. We also have no idea if completely different factors (e.g. international competition, lack of consumer confidence, or anything else besides labor productivity) could have contributed to a lower growth rate in real GDP
per capita during this time period.
The information just isn't available for us to infer the
cause of the average growth rate in GDP per capita being lower from 1973-1997 than it was from 1873-1973. That's why we eliminate choice (B).
(D) remains the only choice that can wholly be inferred from the passage itself.
I hope that helps!
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09 Mar 2020, 19:26
