A tax on disposable plastic bags

This topic has expert replies
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed May 23, 2012 7:23 pm
Thanked: 10 times

A tax on disposable plastic bags

by umeshpatil » Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:19 am
Advocate: Millions of plastic shopping bags are discarded every day in the United States. Plastic bags present a problem for the environment because they do not readily decompose, but will remain intact for thousands of years. Policy makers agree that the best solution to the problem is to convince people to bring their own shopping bags so that they do not need disposable plastic bags. Therefore, the U.S. government should implement a tax on disposable plastic bags because this will have the desired effect of dramatically decreasing the number of plastic bags discarded each day in the United States.

Which of the following provides the strongest reason to believe that the plan to levy a tax on disposable plastic bags will be successful in greatly reducing the number of plastic bags being discarded?

A)A similar tax in several European countries resulted in a 90% decrease in the number of plastic bags used by consumers each year.

B)Current incentives, such as crediting customers 5 or 10 cents for each reusable bag, have resulted in only a small decrease in the number of plastic bags discarded.

C)Some customers are very concerned about the environmental impacts of plastic bags and will bring reusable bags without any financial incentive.

D)The bill has substantial support with the Congressional delegations of many states and with the current administration.

E)The bill could be implemented and the tax collected using a very simple addition to the programming of electronic cash registers.

I posted because, I am not convinced with the justification provided in solutions. Can anyone please explain ?

Source: Veritas

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 58
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:55 am
Thanked: 2 times
Followed by:1 members

by gmatwar13 » Sat Nov 10, 2012 10:38 pm
Going with B

As it is the only way B will become more significant... Rest all dosn't have impact...

User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed May 23, 2012 7:23 pm
Thanked: 10 times

by umeshpatil » Sun Nov 11, 2012 12:43 am
B is not the correct answer. Can anyone have other answer with justification. I am confused with this question ?

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2193
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: Vermont and Boston, MA
Thanked: 1186 times
Followed by:512 members
GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Sun Nov 11, 2012 5:33 am
I actually wrote this question!
So I am here to answer any questions that you have. You will find that as an author I am not defensive, but am always looking to improve the question. So, after I post the explanation and add to it, I will answer any questions, but what I am most interested in are comments as to things that are unclear or unfair so that I can edit the question to make it better.

Here is the explanation from the Veritas Question bank:

"The correct answer will provide direct support for the claim that the tax on disposable bags will be successful in reducing the number of plastic bags discarded. Choice A is the correct answer because it provides an analogous situation where the tax was successful in reducing the number of plastic bags discarded. When the tax was implemented in Europe, it achieved the desired result so is likely that the same plan will succeed in the United States. The other choices are irrelevant or address aspects other than the probable success of the plan. Choices B and C are not central to the argument as they discuss the effectiveness of the current programs in the United States rather than the proposed tax. Choice D does not speak to the probable success of plan, only to the likelihood of it being adopted. Choice E indicates that the plan is feasible, but again this is different from the plan having the intended result."

To add to this explanation I can say this. We have a PLAN type of question here. For this type of question you need to focus on the plan and the goal. The PLAN is to tax disposable plastic bags and the GOAL is to "dramatically decrease the number of plastic bags discarded each day in the United States." The correct answer will show that the PLAN is likely to reach the GOAL. Choice A shows that the very same PLAN (a tax on plastic bags) has reach the very same goal (90% is a dramatic reduction) in Europe, which is a similar place to the U.S. I believe that this shows that the plan will work.

Choice B on the other hand makes one of the fatal errors of answer choices to a plan question. It focuses on a different plan. Crediting customers for bringing their own bag is not the same as taxing them for each plastic one. One of the posters said that we need to have B in order to know that there is still a problem with the bags, but this is not how a plan question works. To strengthen the plan you MUST show that the plan will likely reach the goal. Besides, the stimulus indicates that millions of bags are disposed of each day, so the problem is there.

Does that help? What are your questions and concerns that you still have on this one?
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 58
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:55 am
Thanked: 2 times
Followed by:1 members

by gmatwar13 » Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:03 am
Hi David,

I would have gone with A(which is additional information works as slight strengthener)... if there would not have been B or the below statement..

"Policy makers agree that the best solution to the problem is to convince people to bring their own shopping bags so that they do not need disposable plastic bags".

B states that taxing will provide additional boost for the usage of carry bags and at the same time discourage plastics... B links the conclusion to the premise given above.

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2193
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: Vermont and Boston, MA
Thanked: 1186 times
Followed by:512 members
GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Sun Nov 11, 2012 12:10 pm
GMATwar - Thanks for letting me know your thoughts on this one...

I disagree that A is a slight strengthener! A 90% decrease in shopping bags when this plan was put in place in Europe is pretty strong. A 90% decrease would be evidence of - as the conclusion states - "the desired effect of dramatically decreasing the number of plastic bags..."

As for choice B, how exactly does B "provide an additional boost"? B does not tell us that this plan will work. It simply tells us that current incentives have not really worked in decreasing the number of bags. In any plan question this type of thing is not relevant. This is going to sound weird but it actually does not matter how big the problem is. It does not matter if other plans are successful or not successful because those are not this plan. Even if there are only 10 plastic bags thrown away each year if we can stop 9 of them that is a dramatic reduction. And in this case it says that there are "millions of plastic shopping bags" discarded.
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

User avatar
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 6:03 pm

by zeza » Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:33 am
I actually got this question during my practice Veritas Practice yesterday.

Here is my reasoning for choosing the answer:
Therefore, the U.S. government should implement a tax on disposable plastic bags because this will have the desired effect of dramatically decreasing the number of plastic bags discarded each day in the United States.
A: It's an example how other country successfully implemented tax - so I kept it as possibility
B: As written, it will only result in small decrease
C: It is too strong reason that will support decrease in plastic bag usage
D: Irrelevant - support of Congress does not mean plastic bag usage will decrease
E: Irrelevant - explains how tax will be collected, but not how this will decrease plastic bag usage

Answer: A

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:28 am
Thanked: 2 times
Followed by:1 members

by adityag85 » Fri Mar 22, 2013 6:10 am
@David@VeritasPrep: Aren't we assuming that what worked in Europe, will work in U.S. too?
I mean, no where in the answer choice does it mention that the consumer habits of Europeans and of Americans are similar!

Thanks!
David@VeritasPrep wrote:I actually wrote this question!
So I am here to answer any questions that you have. You will find that as an author I am not defensive, but am always looking to improve the question. So, after I post the explanation and add to it, I will answer any questions, but what I am most interested in are comments as to things that are unclear or unfair so that I can edit the question to make it better.

Here is the explanation from the Veritas Question bank:

"The correct answer will provide direct support for the claim that the tax on disposable bags will be successful in reducing the number of plastic bags discarded. Choice A is the correct answer because it provides an analogous situation where the tax was successful in reducing the number of plastic bags discarded. When the tax was implemented in Europe, it achieved the desired result so is likely that the same plan will succeed in the United States. The other choices are irrelevant or address aspects other than the probable success of the plan. Choices B and C are not central to the argument as they discuss the effectiveness of the current programs in the United States rather than the proposed tax. Choice D does not speak to the probable success of plan, only to the likelihood of it being adopted. Choice E indicates that the plan is feasible, but again this is different from the plan having the intended result."

To add to this explanation I can say this. We have a PLAN type of question here. For this type of question you need to focus on the plan and the goal. The PLAN is to tax disposable plastic bags and the GOAL is to "dramatically decrease the number of plastic bags discarded each day in the United States." The correct answer will show that the PLAN is likely to reach the GOAL. Choice A shows that the very same PLAN (a tax on plastic bags) has reach the very same goal (90% is a dramatic reduction) in Europe, which is a similar place to the U.S. I believe that this shows that the plan will work.

Choice B on the other hand makes one of the fatal errors of answer choices to a plan question. It focuses on a different plan. Crediting customers for bringing their own bag is not the same as taxing them for each plastic one. One of the posters said that we need to have B in order to know that there is still a problem with the bags, but this is not how a plan question works. To strengthen the plan you MUST show that the plan will likely reach the goal. Besides, the stimulus indicates that millions of bags are disposed of each day, so the problem is there.

Does that help? What are your questions and concerns that you still have on this one?

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2193
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: Vermont and Boston, MA
Thanked: 1186 times
Followed by:512 members
GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Fri Mar 22, 2013 6:39 am
Remember that you do not need to prove the conclusion, only strengthen it.

Let's say that the habits of the Europeans are different and that U.S. Citizens are very stubborn (sounds pretty true right?)

So maybe in the U.S. there is not a 90% reduction. The goal here is just to "dramatically decrease" the number of plastic bags discarded each day. That does not need to be 90%. I would call 20 or 30% a dramatic reduction. Imagine losing 30% of your weight, pretty dramatic right?

The point is that we only need make it more likely that we will decrease those plastic bags and answer choice A is talking about the same plan (in a different continent, of course, but the same plan) and a really dramatic result.

Remember that on critical reasoning small assumptions are okay, unlike say, Data Sufficiency. What you want is the answer that requires the fewest assumptions or the smallest assumption.

And of course, none of the other answers works at all on this one.

By the way, if you want to know why I wrote this question, it is based on a real problem. For example, If you search for "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" and especially "Captain Charles Moore" you will learn that plastic from around the world has now formed a gigantic thick mat of plastic trash floating in the Pacific Ocean. There is another in the Atlantic that is less famous, called the North Atlantic Garbage Patch. It is estimated that the density of plastic is in the range of 200,000 pieces of debris per square kilometer.
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

User avatar
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2018 3:09 pm

by rnz » Tue Jan 16, 2018 6:47 pm
Hi David,

I'm still not completely seeing why A is the correct answer. To me, it seems out of scope since were are not told explicitly in the stimulus that the US = Europe, so that's why I eliminated A. Also, to your previous response, how small is a small assumption?