Prior to 1971, the United States was on various forms of a gold standard through which the value of the dollar was backed by gold reserves and paper money could be redeemed for gold on demand. Since 1971, the United States dollar has been a fiat currency backed by "full faith and credit” of the government and not backed by, valued in, or convertible into gold. A gold standard restricts the ability of government to print money at will and to spend more than it earns in tax revenue. Besides, the economy has historically performed best under a gold standard. Therefore, for reasons above, the voters should vote for a party that backs the return of the gold standard in the country.



Which of the following data sets can be best used by the author of the above argument to further his conclusion?

A. Major economic indicators of United States since 1980
B. Expenditure on education and healthcare from 1960 to 2000
C. Money printed by the government as proportion of the Gross Domestic Product from 1950 to 1970
D. Growth in the difference between the revenue and expenditure figures for the government for the last 100 years beginning from 1901.
E. Economic growth in the country in 1971 and in 1972.



OA D

Source: e-GMAT