According to some analysts, whatever

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naveenk: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 16; Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:52 pm

According to some analysts, whatever

by naveenk » Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:08 am

I know this q was discussed quite a few times in forums, but I mentioned again to clear my doubt.
What is the subject of this, where "have" referring to. Is it not "the proposal" (singular).

thxs a lot.

48. According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

(A) its merits, the proposal to tax
(B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing
(C) its merits as a proposal, taxing
(D) the proposal's merits, to tax
(E) the proposal's merits are, taxing

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:08 am

sunnyjohn: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 344; Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:40 am; Thanked: 28 times; Followed by:3 members; GMAT Score:700

by sunnyjohn » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:20 pm

Verb is not HAVE, it is would have.

According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

it can be rephrase as:

According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to X would have a disastrous effect on Y.

I have only confusion, can we assume that
its ==> proposal's

i can easily eliminate C,D, and E.

now come down to idiom:
proposal to
or
proposal of

so A or B will be the answer. preferably A, but i see no problem with B as well.
==> 'its' is so weird in both.

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noun: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 10; Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:36 am

by noun » Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:18 pm

Whats the issue with B..............is it the use of may?
ideally it should be "might"

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capnx: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 268; Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:22 am; Thanked: 19 times; Followed by:1 members; GMAT Score:700

by capnx » Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:51 pm

I agree with Sunny's analysis: the complete predicate is "would have" and the subject is "proposal"
B is eliminated because the idiom is "proposal to do something" rather than "proposal of doing something"; also "may be" is not needed so B is wordier