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Expert replies
by aditya8062 » Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:42 am
In economics, a "Veblen good" is an item which people buy in greater quantity when the price goes up. According to the Law of Supply and Demand, when the price of an ordinary item goes up, demand drops, i.e. people buy fewer of them. A Veblen good is a luxury item to which status is attached, such as a designer outfit or luxury car. As the price of such an item increases, its prestige increases, which makes the item that much more desirable. Therefore, as the price increases, the demand also increases, and more of these items are sold.


In the argument, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A.This first is a piece of evidence supporting the main conclusion; the second is the main conclusion.

B.The first is a view that the author opposes; the second is the main conclusion.

C.The first is a prediction; the second gives evidence of for this prediction.

D.The first is a general rule, the violation of which seems to indicate a paradox; the second is the resolution of that apparent paradox.

E.The first is an ironic description of what could happen in the marketplace; the second is a more realistic description of what actually happens.

my doubt: my concern is the with the later part of option D (proclaimed answer). i feel that the second bold part is not what D describes. "The resolution" of this paradox should include the following text from the passage: "A Veblen good is a luxury item to which status is attached, such as a designer outfit or luxury car. As the price of such an item increases, its prestige increases, which makes the item that much more desirable"

"resolution" means to explain as why any paradox is happening. To explain "why" we must put reason. the second bold portion does not put that "reason", instead it is just stating (the result of that paradox) what is happening.
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by ceilidh.erickson » Tue Oct 21, 2014 7:17 am
In this argument, the first boldface states a generally applicable rule: when the price of an ordinary item goes up, the demand goes down. The argument then goes on to explain why a Veblen good is *not* an ordinary item, concluding that (contrary to expectations with ordinary items), when the price of a Veblen good goes up, demand goes up.

The second boldface does not have to resolve "why any paradox is happening," as you state. That would be impossible. In this argument, we're given a resolution to this specific paradox: when the price goes up, demand goes up. The reason given is that a Veblen good is an item "to which status is attached... and when price increases, its prestige increases."

We don't need a deeper explanation of why this happens. It is enough that the argument tells us "this apparent paradox occurs because demand for this type of good is different from demand for other types of goods." I think perhaps you're getting too caught up in semantics.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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