LSAT 109 – Section 3 – Question 21

LSAT 109 - Section 3 - Question 21

December 2000

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT109 S3 Q21
+LR
Sufficient assumption +SA
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Link Assumption +LinkA
Analogy +An
A
56%
169
B
7%
165
C
13%
165
D
8%
160
E
16%
163
152
164
176
 +Hardest 148.18 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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Some government economists view their home countries as immune to outside influence. But economies are always open systems; international trade significantly affects prices and wages. Just as physicists learned the shortcomings of a mechanics based on idealizations such as the postulation of perfectly frictionless bodies, government economists must look beyond national borders if their nations’ economies are to prosper.

Summary
The author concludes that government economists must look beyond national borders in order for their nations’ economies to prosper. This is based on the fact that economies are always open systems — in other words, things outside a nation’s borders can significantly affect an economy.

Missing Connection
The premise establishes that things beyond a nation’s borders can significantly affect a nation’s economy. But this doesn’t establish what government economists must look at in order for their nations’ economies to prosper. Why couldn’t the economists simply focus on things internal to the nation? Sure, there are external factors that influence the economy, but do we have to pay attention to them? Maybe internal factors alone are enough to allow a nation’s economy to prosper.

A
A national economy cannot prosper unless every significant influence on it has been examined by that nation’s government economists.
The premise establishes that there’s at least one significant influence on an economy that’s beyond a nation’s borders — international trade. According to (A), then, in order for a nation’s economy to prosper, government economists must examine international trade. This proves that in order for a nation’s economy to prosper, government economists must examine at least one thing beyond their nation’s borders.
B
Economics is weakly analogous to the physical sciences.
(B) doesn’t establish what government economists need to examine in order for an economy to prosper. The fact economics is somewhat analagous to physical sciences does not lead to anything specific about what government economists need to do.
C
Economic theories relying on idealizations are generally less accurate than economic theories that do not rely on idealizations.
(C) doesn’t establish what government economists need to examine in order for an economy to prosper. Learning what kind of economic theory is more or less accurate doesn’t support anything specific about what government economists need to do.
D
International trade is the primary significant variable influencing prices and wages.
We already know from the premises that international trade significantly influences prices and wages. Learning that it’s the most significant factor in prices and wages doesn’t establish what government economists need to examine in order for an economy to prosper. Do they need to examine things that are the primary variables influencing prices and wages? We don’t know.
E
Some government economists have been ignoring the effects of international trade on prices and wages.
We’re trying to prove that government economists need to do something. What some of them currently do doesn’t establish what they need to do.

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LSAT PrepTest 109 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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