The author of The Affluent Society argued throughout his long and dist

Question

The author of  The Affluent Society  argued throughout his long and distinguished career for a better balance in advanced capitalist societies between private affluence and the evident public poverty. By public poverty he meant the impoverished disenfranchised citizens, but also the poor infrastructure such as inadequate roads, state school provision and the lack of state intervention to preserve the environment against the excesses of industry. The affluent society was to be achieved through measures (more active government, welfare programs, state planning and most controversially, the redistribution of wealth through taxation), which were very much out of favor during the brief period when monetarism dominated both politics and economics. Of course, Galbraith had been making the case for these policies long before monetarism and he continued to do so long after its demise; a demise that he most certainly hastened with his profound yet witty criticism of that ideology. For a European it is hard to understand why he did not embrace socialism, but he always advocated the mixed economy. Politically and as an adopted American he was a Democrat. Intellectually he was a lifelong disciple of Keynes and greatly influenced by the post-war American New Deal.    1 
 1. Which of the following statements best expresses the primary objective of the passage?

A. to expound Keynesian economics
B. to highlight the period of monetarism as brief and controversial
C. to put forward the theories of Galbraith
D. to set forth the case for greater state intervention and curtail the excesses of capitalism
E. to present the theories found in the classic title  The Affluent Society

2 
 2. Which of the following statements can best be inferred from the passage?

A. Mr Galbraith was acclaimed for the way he made complex economic theory accessible to the person in the street.
B. Tax cuts should be opposed if the air is polluted.
C. The perfect society would be one where the rich accepted high rates of taxation.
D. Economic life is a bipolar phenomenon.
E. The benefits of tax cuts trickle down through the whole of society.

3 
 3. Which of the following statements, if true, would add most to the main point of the passage?

A. Galbraith was disappointed with the collapse of communism.
B. Most people are content to accept public squalor and private affluence.
C. Galbraith met J.M. Keynes.
D. It is claimed that his fame was fading in the 1970s until he wrote his critique of the monetarist, Milton Freedman.
E. Galbraith was delighted by the collapse of communism.

Source: How to pass the GMAT

100mitra · Answer

Paraphrasing:   {8 Mins - 3/3 correct}
* Galbraith, a democrat’s and author of  The Affluent Society  argued 
 throughout his long and distinguished career 
 for a better balance in advanced capitalist societies 
 between 
a)  private affluence  – since after monetarism dominated both politics and economics 
b)  the evident public poverty  – 3 things 
* Intellectually he was a lifelong disciple of Keynes and 
 greatly influenced by the post-war American New Deal.

1. Which of the following statements best expresses the primary objective of the passage?  
A. to expound Keynesian economics
  Wrong:   this is not the intended purpose of the passage, Only Galbraith was disciple of Keynesian economics

B. to highlight the period of monetarism as brief and controversial
  Wrong:  : Galbraith advocated private affluence, before period of monetarism, passage tone is not controversial

C. to put forward the theories of Galbraith
  Correct: Theories of Galbraith related to private affluence, and evident public poverty and this acceptance is mentioned in the passage

D. to set forth the case for greater state intervention and curtail the excesses of capitalism
  Wrong:   Out of scope, passage does not describe this information, to come to this conclusion.

E. to present the theories found in the classic title The Affluent Society
  Wrong:   Trap! In Passage “the affluent society” book is used to introduce about author Galbraith, the theories were part of Galbraith

2. Which of the following statements can best be inferred from the passage?

A. Mr Galbraith was acclaimed for the way 
he made complex economic theory 
 accessible to the person in the street .
  Wrong:   Out of scope, it is correct, Galbraith is author of The affluent society, 
but cannot be inferred from book, whether it is handy to a person in the street.

B. Tax cuts should be opposed if the air is polluted.
  Correct: as mentioned in the passage, air is polluted means people are not getting as per the their tax paid needs  , “ By public poverty he meant the impoverished disenfranchised citizens, but also the poor infrastructure such as inadequate roads, state school provision and the lack of state intervention to preserve the environment against the excesses of industry. ”

C. The perfect society would be one where the rich accepted high rates of taxation.
  Wrong:   cannot be inferred only rich accept high rates of taxation, 
as the information mentioned in the passage highlights about redistribution of wealth
"The affluent society was to be achieved through measures (more active government, welfare programs, state planning and most controversially, the redistribution of wealth through taxation)”

D. Economic life is a bipolar phenomenon.
  Wrong:   Irrelevant, cannot be inferred, no such information in passage supports it.

E. The benefits of tax cuts trickle down through the whole of society.
  Wrong:   intended meaning is not the cut down tax, but to redistribution based on the eligibility

3. Which of the following statements, if true, would add most to the main point of the passage?  
A. Galbraith was disappointed with the collapse of communism.
  Wrong:   Galbraith was a democrat, as mentioned in the passage, 
no further information in the passage
“Politically and as an adopted American he was a Democrat”

B. Most people are content to accept public squalor and private affluence.
  Wrong:   its not most people, but most capitalist societies, as mentioned in the passage,
“distinguished career for a better balance in advanced capitalist societies between private affluence and the evident public poverty.”

C. Galbraith met J.M. Keynes.
  Wrong:   he was influenced by Keynes, met is ambiguity, as mentioned in the passage, 
“Intellectually he was a lifelong disciple of Keynes and greatly influenced by the post-war American New Deal”
 
D. It is claimed that his fame was fading in the 1970s 
until he wrote his critique of the monetarist, Milton Freedman.
  Correct: as mentioned in the passage, Galbraith measures were accepted well before, period monetarism dominated both politics and economics  ,
“ The affluent society was to be achieved  through measures , 
which were very  much out of favor during the brief period  when monetarism  dominated  both politics and economics. 
Galbraith had been  making the case for these policies long before monetarism  and he continued to do so long after its demise ”

E. Galbraith was delighted by the collapse of communism 
  Wrong:   Galbraith was a democrat, as mentioned in the passage, no further information in the passage
“Politically and as an adopted American he was a Democrat”

mainbhiankit · Answer

Wow, this one's pretty difficult.

In Question 1, I was stuck between options C and E. While I understand why option C can be the answer, I can't really eliminate option E. Can someone help with that?

For Question 2, I have no clue why option C is right and why option E is incorrect. One of the policies for achieving an affluent society is income redistribution using taxation, right? So, can't option E be inferred from this?

Lastly, I did get Question 3 correct, so I will mention the logic that I used for it. Maybe it might help someone.

Excerpt from the passage:

This tells us that even though he supported monetarism, the demise of the ideology was related to his criticism of the same. Think of this as a 'resolve the paradox' CR question. Why did he do this? Option D sort of gives his reasoning to do so, thereby adding further information. Hence, D is the correct answer.

Ggt1234 · Answer

Great question. But don't think the correct answer to Q2 should mention tax cuts for the rich instead of just tax cuts? The passage mentions only wealth redistribution and excess of industry, which could imply tax cut for the poor, tax hike for the rich or both. Whereas the author only talks about striking a balance between affluence and poverty, hence econnomic life can indeed be a bipolar phenomenon. Am I missing something?

Matty101 · Answer

Hello.

In the passage it mentions: " the lack of state intervention to preserve the environment against the excesses of industry. " He later mentions " most controversially, the redistribution of wealth through taxation." Most commonly, the redistribution of wealth has to do with taxing of the wealthier class. It is okay if you do not want to make this assumption, but throughout the passage, he talks about wanting more balance in wealth.

Earlier on he makes these points:

"better balance in advanced capitalist societies between private affluence and the evident public poverty." This suggests that perhaps some wealth should taken from more affluent individuals and given to "impoverished disenfranchised citizens."

In general, it seems as if the wealthy have more than enough, and this leads into his later point that taxation would be beneficial. So out of the options given, it is likely the group with more than they need, do not need additional tax cuts.

Even if it isn't a great choice, it seems better than any of the other choices we are given.

rak08 · Answer

@KarshimaB  GMATNinja   egmat

Please assist with Q3,
how do we know 1970s ref,
how can we know the criticism was written during the period of monetarism and not after this fall?

egmat · Answer

Think of it this way:

If someone says  "The firefighter hastened the end of the fire with her quick action"  , can the quick action have happened AFTER the fire was already out? Obviously not. You can only speed up the end of something that's still happening.

Same logic here. The passage says Galbraith  "hastened the demise"  of monetarism with his criticism. That single word -  hastened  - locks the criticism into the period WHEN monetarism was still alive and dominant. The criticism came during monetarism, not after.

Answer D adds concrete evidence to this: his fame was fading in the 1970s (when monetarism was rising), and his critique of Milton Friedman revived it. This perfectly supports the passage's claim that his criticism was powerful enough to help bring monetarism down.

You don't need to independently "know" the 1970s - the question says "if true." You just need to check: does this ADD to the main point? D directly strengthens the passage's central claim about Galbraith as an effective critic of monetarism.

Shubham2599jain · Answer

Bunuel   KarishmaB  Please explain the third question. The answer seems too out of the way

guddo · Answer

3. Which of the following statements, if true, would add most to the main point of the passage?

The passage’s main point is that Galbraith consistently argued for a mixed economy with stronger public investment and redistribution to reduce “public poverty,” and that he opposed monetarism with influential criticism while remaining Keynesian and politically aligned with the Democrats and the New Deal.

A. Galbraith was disappointed with the collapse of communism.

Communism is not the focus of the passage, and this does not add to the main point about his views on capitalism, public poverty, and the mixed economy.

B. Most people are content to accept public squalor and private affluence.

This reinforces the problem Galbraith criticized, but it does not add much about Galbraith’s specific argument, policies, or impact, which are what the passage mainly develops.

C. Galbraith met J.M. Keynes.

This is a minor biographical detail. The passage already establishes he was intellectually Keynesian, so this adds little.

D. It is claimed that his fame was fading in the 1970s until he wrote his critique of the monetarist, Milton Freedman.

This directly adds to a major strand of the passage: that Galbraith delivered influential criticism of monetarism and helped hasten its demise.  It strengthens the passage’s portrayal of his impact as a critic of monetarism.

E. Galbraith was delighted by the collapse of communism.

Same issue as (A): not tied to the passage’s main point.

Answer: (D)

The author of The Affluent Society argued throughout his long and dist

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The author of The Affluent Society argued throughout his long and dist

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