Hector: The governments stimulus package will provide every citizen

Question

Hector: The government’s stimulus package will provide every citizen a sum of $1000, amounting to $30 billion in total expenditure. The stimulus package will greatly strain the government’s budgetary reserves and push us further towards a deficit. Thus, the stimulus will harm the government.

Vera: A windfall of $1000 will encourage citizens to spend more freely, increasing the amount of money flowing through the economy. As a result, government reserves through taxes will increase even if strained because of the stimulus.

Vera’s responds to Hector by

(A) illustrating that Hector’s conclusion is based on evidence that is irrelevant to the concerned issue
(B) questioning the believability of the evidence that Hector’s argument is based on
(C) concurring with the primary conclusion of Hector’s argument but interpreting it as justification for positivism rather than for negativism
(D) supporting Hector’s conclusion by providing an interpretation of the evidence Hector cites in agreement with his conclusion
(E) pointing out that Hector’s argument ignores an extenuating consequence

This is a  CR Butler Question

Check the links to other Butler Projects:
 
  Data Sufficiency Butler  
  Problem Solving Butler

agrasan · Answer

Hector: The government’s stimulus package will provide every citizen a sum of $1000, amounting to $30 billion in total expenditure. The stimulus package will greatly strain the government’s budgetary reserves and push us further towards a deficit. Thus, the stimulus will harm the government.

Vera: A windfall of $1000 will encourage citizens to spend more freely, increasing the amount of money flowing through the economy. As a result, government reserves through taxes will increase even if strained because of the stimulus.

Vera’s responds to Hector by

(A) illustrating that Hector’s conclusion is based on evidence that is irrelevant to the concerned issue
 Incorrect , Vera never said that Hector's conclusion is based on irrelevant evidence, in fact, it introduced another factor to cast a doubt on Hector's conclusion.

(B) questioning the believability of the evidence that Hector’s argument is based on
 Incorrect , Vera never questioned Hector's evidence.

(C) concurring with the primary conclusion of Hector’s argument but interpreting it as justification for positivism rather than for negativism
 Incorrect , Vera didn't support Hector's primary conclusion, in fact, it introduced another factor to cast a doubt on Hector's conclusion.

(D) supporting Hector’s conclusion by providing an interpretation of the evidence Hector cites in agreement with his conclusion
 Incorrect , Vera didn't support Hector's conclusion.

(E) pointing out that Hector’s argument ignores an extenuating consequence
 Correct , Vera brought in a new information which Hector missed to include.

arushi118 · Answer

E  is correct as Vera responds to Hector by going one step ahead and thinking of how government's stimulus package will ultimately lead to benefit for the government. So he responds by pointing out a way the stimulus can benefit the govn which was ignored by Hector.

vasu1104 · Answer

hector = gov will run towards deficit because it will use its budget reserves. 
 vera = budget reserves will increase through taxes.

vera basically argue against hectors claim of reduction in budget reserve through spending process.

A no she is not arguing based on evidence that is irrelevant. 
 B she is not questioning the believability of his evidence. rather she is pointing out missing link hector has not considered. 
 C she is not agreeing with hector. 
 D she is not supporting his conclusion. 
 E perfect. she is mentioning the consequence of money being given out and how spending of it will help increase the reserve through the taxes

egmat · Answer

Understanding the Argument Structure:

Hector's Argument: 
- Stimulus costs  $30 billion 
- This strains budgetary reserves → pushes toward deficit
-  Conclusion:  The stimulus will  harm  the government

Vera's Response: 
- Citizens will spend the  $1000  windfall
- More spending = more economic activity
-  Result:  Government tax revenues will  increase

The Key Insight: 
Hector only looked at  ONE side  of the equation - the  cost  ( $30 billion  outflow).
Vera points out he  ignored  the  other side  - the  benefit  (increased tax revenue from economic activity).

Note that  Vera does NOT:
- Say Hector's facts are wrong
- Question the  $30 billion  figure
- Agree that the stimulus is harmful

Vera  accepts  Hector's evidence but shows he missed something important.

(A)  "evidence is irrelevant" -  Wrong . Vera doesn't say the cost is irrelevant; she accepts it.

(B)  "questioning believability" -  Wrong . Vera doesn't doubt the  $30 billion  figure.

(C)  "concurring with conclusion" -  Wrong . Vera  disagrees  that the stimulus will harm the government.

(D)  "supporting Hector's conclusion" -  Wrong . Vera  opposes  Hector's conclusion.

(E)   Correct .

What does "extenuating consequence" mean? 
 Extenuating  = something that makes a situation less bad/severe
The consequence Hector ignored (increased tax revenue) would  extenuate  (lessen) the harm he predicts.

Vera shows Hector ignored a consequence (tax revenue increase) that would reduce the predicted harm.

Answer: E

Dereno · Answer

Hector : Governments stimulus package is for $30 billion, for every citizen , each getting a sum of $1000. What impact will the stimulus package have? This will strain the governments budgetary reserve, pushing it towards deficit, that’s draining the reserves. Thus, the stimulus is a harm to government.

Vera: A windfall ( large amount ) amount of $1000 will lead to public spending. So, Vera mentions that $1000 is a big amount for the citizens receiving it. The spending will increase the amount of money flow into the economy. Thus, through this economic cycle, the taxes received will increase. Even though the stimulus has strained the government reserves, the taxes has contributed to an increase.

We need to ascertain Vera s response to Hector.

(A) illustrating that Hector’s conclusion is based on evidence that is irrelevant to the concerned issue.

This completely contradictory to the main theme of the discussion. Hence, Wrong.

(B) questioning the believability of the evidence that Hector’s argument is based on.

Vera is not questioning the credibility of the evidence cited by Hector. Vera acknowledges to a slight degree on the strain on budget reserve. So, this shows there is a common Ground between the two, but the degree of support is different. Hence, Wrong.

(C) concurring with the primary conclusion of Hector’s argument but interpreting it as justification for positivism rather than for negativism.

Hectors primary conclusion is the stimulus is causing Harm to budget reserves. But, Vera is not concurring with it. Vera explains a new dimension of taxes and spending, which might bring those stimulus amounts back to governments coffin. Hence, Wrong.

(D) supporting Hector’s conclusion by providing an interpretation of the evidence Hector cites in agreement with his conclusion.

There is not even a single instance of supporting words for Hectors argument, the perception of Vera is entirely different from what Hector perceives. Hence, Wrong.

(E) pointing out that Hector’s argument ignores an extenuating consequence.

Vera mentions that while Hector is crying about the amount moving out of governments budget reserve, fails to notice that the spending capacity will add money through taxes into governments coffin. This is the correct answer.

Option E

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Video explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgPOHMaSG9k

Hector: The governments stimulus package will provide every citizen

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Hector: The governments stimulus package will provide every citizen

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards