Columnist: Some people argue that the government sh

Question

Columnist: Some people argue that the government should not take over failing private-sector banks because the government does not know how to manage financial institutions. However, rather than managing a bank's day-to-day operations, the government would just need to select the bank's senior management. Most politicians have never been military professionals, yet they appoint the top military officials entrusted with defending the country at least as great a responsibility as managing a bank.

The columnist's statements, if true, provide a reason for rejecting which one of the following?

A. Commanding a branch of the military requires greater knowledge than running a bank does.

B. Politicians do an adequate job of appointing the top military officials entrusted with defending the country.

C. Politicians are not capable of managing a bank's day-to-day operations.

D. Banks that are owned by the government cannot be well managed.

E. The government should not take over private- sector banks that are financially sound.

LSAT

mitravanu · Answer

Columnist: Some people argue that the government should not take over failing private-sector banks because the government does not know how to manage financial institutions. However, rather than managing a bank's day-to-day operations, the government would just need to select the bank's senior management. Most politicians have never been military professionals, yet they appoint the top military officials entrusted with defending the country at least as great a responsibility as managing a bank.

The columnist's statements, if true, provide a reason for rejecting which one of the following?

A. Commanding a branch of the military requires greater knowledge than running a bank does.  The knowledge required to run the banks isn't compared with knowledge required to run the military by the columnist.

B. Politicians do an adequate job of appointing the top military officials entrusted with defending the country.  The columnist's argument depends on this assumption. So this must be true.

C. Politicians are not capable of managing a bank's day-to-day operations.  It is stated that the politicians aren't required to run day to day operations of a bank. That doesn't always mean that they are incapable.

D. Banks that are owned by the government cannot be well managed.  The columnist actually argue against this assumption of people. So it can be ruled out.

E. The government should not take over private- sector banks that are financially sound.  The argument says nothing about financially sound banks.

Ans: D

saury2k · Answer

Can anyone please provide the detailed explanation.

masakiyada · Answer

I fell for the trap, A: “at least as great as”, not quite equal to “greater”. But now, I can see why D is the right answer.

Let me start with an analogy. Warren Buffet buys many businesses and owns them. Does he run all of them? No. He bought Berkshire Hathaway, when it was a failing cotton manufacturer. If he finds a failing business, which is underpriced, he may buy it. He takes it over and installs the right management. So then, does that mean that Warren Buffet owns the company? Yes. Does he manage it? No. But can the business still be managed well? Yes.

D directly contradicts what the stem says. The stem says that banks that are owned by the government can still be managed well as long as the government hires competent senior management to run it.

unraveled · Answer

Columnist: Some people argue that the government should not take over failing private-sector banks because the government does not know how to manage financial institutions. However, rather than managing a bank's day-to-day operations, the government would just need to select the bank's senior management. Most politicians have never been military professionals, yet they appoint the top military officials entrusted with defending the country at least as great a responsibility as managing a bank.

The columnist's statements, if true, provide a reason for rejecting which one of the following?

The problem with this question is that it is easily understandable, however, one may have a hard time understanding what question stem is asking. It is simply asking to reject a choice which can't be inferred from the passage.

A. Commanding a branch of the military  requires greater knowledge than running a bank does . - WRONG. This is true since passage uses 'at least' to suggest so to compare.

B. Politicians  do an adequate job  of appointing the top military officials entrusted with defending the country. - WRONG. This is also true as columnist take such an example and draws a conclusion based on that.

C. Politicians are  not capable  of managing a bank's day-to-day operations. - WRONG. This is true since day-to-day, specifically, operations are difficult for govt. Whether beyond day-to-day they are capable is beyond our/passage scope.

D. Banks that are  owned by the government cannot be well managed . - CORRECT. This is not inferable since nowhere it is mentioned or suggested in the passage that a bank is owned and then managed - whether properly or not, it is not our concern.

E. The government should  not take over private- sector banks that are financially sound . - WRONG. This one may give hard time among all. 'Not take over' is fine but 'financially sound' aspect may look out of scope. I'm still unconvinced with my reasoning here though.

Answer D.

licrolicro · Answer

Understanding the Columnist's Argument:

Opposing Viewpoint: Some argue that the government shouldn't take over failing banks because it doesn’t know how to manage financial institutions.

Columnist's Rebuttal:

The government wouldn’t need to manage day-to-day operations; it would only need to appoint competent senior management.

Analogy: Politicians appoint top military officials (a huge responsibility) even though they’re not military professionals themselves.

Conclusion: If politicians can successfully appoint military leaders, they can also appoint competent bank managers.

What the Question Asks:

The columnist's statements, if true, provide a reason for rejecting which one of the following?

In other words, which option is contradicted or weakened by the columnist's argument?
Analyzing Each Option:

(A) Commanding a branch of the military requires greater knowledge than running a bank does.

The columnist doesn’t compare the difficulty of military command vs. banking. They only say that appointing military leaders is at least as great a responsibility.

Not directly challenged by the argument.

(B) Politicians do an adequate job of appointing the top military officials entrusted with defending the country.

The columnist assumes this is true (since they use it to argue that politicians can appoint bank managers well).

The argument supports this, not rejects it.

(C) Politicians are not capable of managing a bank's day-to-day operations.

The columnist agrees with this (they say the government wouldn’t manage day-to-day operations, only appoint managers).

Not rejected by the argument.

(D) Banks that are owned by the government cannot be well managed.

This is directly challenged by the columnist’s argument. They argue that government-owned banks can be well managed if the government appoints good leadership (just like with the military).

This is the correct answer.

(E) The government should not take over private-sector banks that are financially sound.

The columnist only discusses failing banks, not financially sound ones.

Irrelevant to the argument.

Conclusion:

The columnist's argument provides a reason to reject (D), because they argue that government-owned banks can be well managed if the government appoints competent leadership (just as it does with the military).

D

Columnist: Some people argue that the government sh

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Columnist: Some people argue that the government sh

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