Recently, some economists have concluded that the major impediment to

Question

Recently,  some economists have concluded that the major impediment to job growth in the U.S. is the enormous national debt.  While many politicians would like to stimulate job growth by increasing government spending, these economists believe it will have the opposite effect and thus want to cut spending immediately.  Historically, when total debt levels exceed 90% of domestic GDP, economic growth falls significantly causing job losses and overall economic malaise . The current U.S. debt is over 96% of GDP, so it is hard to argue the importance of decreasing this percentage and the economists are correct on this point. However, what these economists fail to understand is that cutting spending at this critical juncture would put too much pressure on a fragile economy. In the short term, spending should be left at current levels and revenue should be increased by increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and some corporations. As the economy strengthens, then spending can be decreased with the goal of reducing the debt percentage of GDP to a figure below 90%.

(A) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion that the author of this argument believes is incorrect; the second boldfaced portion is support for that opinion.

(B) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion that the author of this argument believes is incorrect; the second boldfaced portion is support for the author’s conclusion.

(C) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion that the author believes is correct; the second boldfaced portion is support for that opinion.

(D) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion upon which the author’s conclusion is based; the second boldfaced portion is evidence that contradicts that conclusion.

(E) The first boldfaced portion is the author’s conclusion; the second boldfaced portion is support for that conclusion.

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Gmat750aspirant · Answer

Step 1: Identify the roles of the boldfaced portions

- First boldfaced portion: "Some economists have concluded that the major impediment to job growth in the U.S. is the enormous national debt." 
 - This is an opinion held by some economists. 
 - The author disagrees with their proposed solution (cutting spending immediately).

- Second boldfaced portion: "Historically, when total debt levels exceed 90% of domestic GDP, economic growth falls significantly causing job losses and overall economic malaise." 
 - This is a fact or historical observation that supports the economists' argument. 
 - It helps justify why they believe high national debt is an impediment to job growth.

Step 2: Understand the author’s stance

- The author disagrees with the economists' view that national debt is the main problem. 
- Instead, the author argues that cutting spending immediately would harm the fragile economy and suggests an alternative approach (maintaining spending while increasing taxes).

Step 3: Evaluate answer choices

(A) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion that the author of this argument believes is incorrect; the second boldfaced portion is support for that opinion. 
- Correct. 
- The first boldfaced portion is an opinion (held by economists) that the author does not fully agree with because they believe cutting spending is the wrong approach. 
- The second boldfaced portion supports that opinion by presenting historical data that links high debt to economic downturns, strengthening the economists' claim.

(B) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion that the author of this argument believes is incorrect; the second boldfaced portion is support for the author’s conclusion. 
- Incorrect. The second boldfaced portion does not support the author’s conclusion—it actually strengthens the economists' position.

(C) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion that the author believes is correct; the second boldfaced portion is support for that opinion. 
- Incorrect. The author does not fully agree with the first boldfaced opinion; they challenge its implication.

(D) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion upon which the author’s conclusion is based; the second boldfaced portion is evidence that contradicts that conclusion. 
- Incorrect. The author does not base their conclusion on the first boldfaced portion (they argue against it), and the second boldfaced portion does not contradict the conclusion—it supports the economists' claim.

(E) The first boldfaced portion is the author’s conclusion; the second boldfaced portion is support for that conclusion. 
- Incorrect. The first boldfaced portion is not the author’s conclusion; it is the claim made by the economists.

Conclusion: Answer is A

kayarat600 · Answer

Your answer is foundational wrong re read the paragraph both the bolds are in support of each 9ther

Ckey15 · Answer

Can you provide an explanation?

Bunuel · Answer

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

For any boldfaced question, it is essential that you first understand the complete argument. In this stimulus, it is stated that some economists believe that the enormous debt is the major impediment to job growth. As a result, these economists believe that spending should be cut immediately to reduce the debt. The evidence they give for their argument is that current debt levels are 96% of GDP and when total debt levels exceed 90% of domestic GDP, economic growth falls significantly causing job losses and overall economic malaise. The author of this argument agrees that reducing debt is essential but believes that an immediate reduction of spending would be problematic because the economy is too fragile. His recommendation and conclusion is that spending levels should be left constant in the short term and revenues increased with more taxes. Then, after the economy has recovered, spending should indeed be reduced. In summary, the author agrees with the economists that the major impediment to job growth is the high debt level but disagrees with their short term plan because the economists have not considered the fragile state of the economy. With that understanding of the argument, you must then attack each answer choice to see how the boldfaced sections are described:

(A) The author does not believe that first boldfaced portion is incorrect but rather believes it is correct. He disagrees with their assertion that “spending should be cut immediately” but agrees with this boldfaced portion. While the second boldface portion is described correctly, (A) is incorrect because of the description of the first boldfaced portion.

(B) This answer choice also incorrectly describes the first boldfaced portion. While the second does support the author’s conclusion, (B) contains the same error as (A) with the first boldfaced portion.

(C) The first boldfaced portion is an opinion that the author indeed believes is correct. The second boldfaced portion is the essential premise for that opinion so  (C) is correct.

(D) In this choice, it is correct to say for the first boldfaced portion that the author’s conclusion is based on the opinion that the major impediment to job growth in the U.S. is the enormous national debt. However, the second boldfaced portion does not contradict the author’s conclusion but rather supports it so (D) is incorrect

(E) The first boldfaced portion is not the author’s conclusion but rather the opinion of several other economists. The author’s conclusion is given in the last two sentences that are not boldfaced.

Recently, some economists have concluded that the major impediment to

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