Question

The government-owned gas company has begun selling stoves and other gas appliances to create a larger market for its gas. Merchants who sell such products complain that the competition will hurt their businesses. That may well be; however, the government-owned gas company is within its rights. After all, the owner of a private gas company might will decide to sell such appliances and surely there would be nothing wrong with that.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps justify the reasoning above?


(A) Government-owned companies have the right to do whatever private businesses have the right to do.

(B) A government should always take seriously the complaints of merchants.

(C) Private businesses have not right to compete with government monopolies.

(D) There is nothing wrong with a government-owned company selling products so long as owners of private companies do not complain.

(E) There is nothing wrong with private companies competing against each other.

Answer 1

The principle that most helps justify the reasoning in the given scenario is that government-owned companies have the right to do whatever private businesses have the right to do.

Step-by-step explanation:

The principle that most helps justify the reasoning in the given scenario is (A) Government-owned companies have the right to do whatever private businesses have the right to do. The reasoning in the passage is that if a private gas company has the right to sell stoves and gas appliances, then a government-owned gas company also has the right to do so. This principle supports the argument that the government-owned gas company is within its rights to sell these products and compete with private merchants, even if it may hurt their businesses.