Question

Politician: Each year, small businesses create more jobs than do large established businesses. Therefore, in order to reduce unemployment in the long term, we should provide incentives for starting small businesses rather than for expanding established large businesses.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the politician's argument?

• A. In general, people employed by small businesses report higher job satisfaction than do people employed by large businesses.
• B. Among the currently unemployed are many people with sufficient job skills to perform the jobs that small businesses would create.
• C. Providing an effective incentive for starting a business generally costs significantly less than providing an effective incentive for expanding a large business.
• D. A high proportion of small businesses fail within three years of starting because of their owners' inexperience.
• E. The average large business contributes more money to politicians' campaign funds than the average small business does.

Hint:

Pay very close attention to qualifying words in the conclusion of an argument. Here, the phrase "in the long term" is the key to the argument's vulnerability. The correct answer is the one that specifically attacks the long-term viability of the proposed solution.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This is a "weaken the argument" question. The politician's argument is that because small businesses create more jobs annually, incentivizing them is the best long-term strategy to reduce unemployment. We need to find a statement that undermines this conclusion.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
The argument makes a leap from "job creation" to "long-term reduction of unemployment." A key weakness would be to show that the jobs created are not stable or permanent, thus not contributing to a long-term solution.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
- The politician's conclusion specifically mentions the goal of reducing unemployment "in the long term."
- Option (D) states that a high proportion of small businesses fail quickly. If the businesses that create the jobs disappear within a few years, the jobs they created also disappear. This means that while many jobs are created, many are also destroyed. This directly attacks the idea that this strategy is effective for the "long term," casting serious doubt on the conclusion.
- (A) Job satisfaction is irrelevant to the number of jobs created or their stability.
- (B) This strengthens the argument by suggesting there is a ready workforce for the new jobs.
- (C) The cost of the incentives is a practical issue but doesn't challenge the core logic of whether this strategy is effective at creating lasting employment.
- (E) Campaign funds are irrelevant to the economic logic of the argument.
Step 4: Final Answer:
The high failure rate of small businesses suggests that the jobs they create are not permanent, which directly undermines the politician's claim that this is a good "long-term" solution for unemployment.