Question

Agreement and disagreement among economists

Suppose that Shen, an economist from a university in Arizona, and Valerie, an economist from a public television program, are arguing over health insurance. The following dialogue shows an excerpt from their debate:

Valerie: A popular topic for debate among politicians as well as economists is the idea of providing government assistance for health benefits.

Shen: I think it is oppressive for the government to tax people who take care of themselves in order to pay for health insurance for those who are obese.

Valerie: I disagree. I think government funding of health insurance is useful to ensure basic fairness.

The disagreement between these economists is most likely due to differences between perception versus realty, differences in values, or differences in scientific judgments.

Despite their differences, with which proposition are two economists chosen at random most likely to agree?

A) Central banks should focus more on maintaining low unemployment than on maintaining low inflation.

B) Employers should not be restricted from outsourcing work to foreign nations.

C) Business managers can raise profit more easily by reducing costs than by raising revenue.

Answer 1

Answer: B) Employers should not be restricted from outsourcing work to foreign nations.

Despite the fact that there are a lot of economic questions that are open for deliberation, the field is mostly in conformity on several points. Two economists selected at random are most expected to agree that employers should not be restricted from outsourcing work to foreign nations, for the reason that proof exists that about 90% of economists have the same opinion with this proposition. It would be difficult to come across two randomly chosen economists will both agree with either of the other propositions.