S92-02

Official Solution:


A municipal employment training center plans to offer tax deductions for local workers who take classes that retrain workers in high-tech job skills. Although employing these workers in local jobs that require high-tech skills will generate tax profits that exceed the cost of the tax deductions, this practice is unwise. Local community colleges could offer classes to train students in high-tech job skills without offering these students tax deductions.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the training center's policy of offering tax deductions for local workers?


A. There will be virtually no difference between the future tax profits generated by workers who retrain in high-tech job skills at the training center and those generated by the students who receive retraining in high-tech job skills at community college classes.
B. Over 90 of workers who have completed retraining at the municipal employment training center have gone on to gain employment in high-tech industries, either locally or in neighboring cities.
C. Establishing job skill classes at the retraining center uses substantially less capital stemming from current tax revenues than would establishing classes at the community college.
D. Retrained workers now account for nearly half of the new hires in the municipality, with this number expected to grow, while the hiring rate for untrained workers has stayed constant.
E. The training center offers training in spreadsheets, data entry, multimedia presentations, and other skills that companies rank as most important for their employees to know, as does the community college.


In order to support the center's policy of offering tax deductions, it is necessary to weaken the claim that local community colleges offering classes to train students in high-tech job skills without offering tax deductions is preferable to the training center's policy of offering tax deductions to retrain workers.

The correct answer will support the argument that retraining workers at the municipal employment training center is better than training students at colleges in spite of the cost of tax deductions.

Choice C is correct. Choice C directly supports the center's claim that taking classes at the center is preferable to training students at colleges in spite of the cost of tax deductions. Although colleges could offer classes without offering tax deductions, the center uses less capital from tax revenues to establish classes. This weakens the claim that the colleges are preferable because they provide tax revenue benefits.

Choice A states that workers generate the same amount of tax profit after retraining regardless of whether their retraining took place at the training center or at the community college. If the same results are achieved regardless, the additional tax break is not justified. In a way, it is weakening the training center's policy of offering tax deductions for local workers

Choice B cites a high employment rate for workers who have completed retraining at the training center, which does not address the relative merit of the program in comparison to that of the community college. 90 sounds like an excellent rate, but maybe the community college has 95 , and without the need for an additional tax break. Moreover, the tax profits only come from local jobs, and this choice claims that some of the workers who retrain may work "in neighboring cities."

Choice D states that the retrained workers make up a large and growing part of the new hires in the municipality, and that this is untrue of untrained workers. This choice supports the need for more training in general, but has no bearing on which of the two training options discussed makes better economic sense. Thus, this comparison is irrelevant to the exact situation at hand.

Choice E, like choice B, cites facts that seem to argue for the merits of the training center. However, the same merits are true of the community college; there is no difference established, and because the argument claims that the community college has at least one economic advantage over the training center, this choice does not weaken the claim that the community college is the better option.


Answer: C