The Author of The Affluent Society Argued Throughout his Long and Distinguished Career GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

The author of The Affluent Society argued throughout his long and distinguished career for a better balance in advanced capitalist societies between private affluence and the evident public poverty. By public poverty he meant the impoverished disenfranchised citizens, but also the poor infrastructure such as inadequate roads, state school provision and the lack of state intervention to preserve the environment against the excesses of industry. The affluent society was to be achieved through measures (more active government, welfare programs, state planning and most controversially, the redistribution of wealth through taxation), which were very much out of favor during the brief period when monetarism dominated both politics and economics. Of course, Galbraith had been making the case for these policies long before monetarism and he continued to do so long after its demise; a demise that he most certainly hastened with his profound yet witty criticism of that ideology. For a European it is hard to understand why he did not embrace socialism, but he always advocated the mixed economy. Politically and as an adopted American he was a Democrat. Intellectually he was a lifelong disciple of Keynes and greatly influenced by the post-war American New Deal.

‘The author of The Affluent Society argued throughout his long and distinguished career’ is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions.

The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Questions and Solutions

1. Which of the following statements best expresses the primary objective of the passage?

1. to expound Keynesian economics
2. to highlight the period of monetarism as brief and controversial
3. to put forward the theories of Galbraith
4. to set forth the case for greater state intervention and curtail the excesses of capitalism
5. to present the theories found in the classic title The Affluent Society

2. Which of the following statements can best be inferred from the passage?

1. Mr. Galbraith was acclaimed for the way he made complex economic theory accessible to the person on the street.
2. Tax cuts should be opposed if the air is polluted.
3. The perfect society would be one where the rich accepted high rates of taxation.
4. Economic life is a bipolar phenomenon.
5. The benefits of tax cuts trickle down through the whole of society.

3. Which of the following statements, if true, would add most to the main point of the passage?

1. Galbraith was disappointed with the collapse of communism.
2. Most people are content to accept public squalor and private affluence.
3. Galbraith met J.M. Keynes.
4. It is claimed that his fame was fading in the 1970s until he wrote his critique of the monetarist, Milton Freedman.
5. Galbraith was delighted by the collapse of communism.

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