The country of Alcazar has been growing at an impressive pace for the last five years. With improvements in technology, many industries have recorded remarkable growth in productivity. An accountant, Lucas Eggers, however argues that people in the economy are not necessarily better off because mechanization and technology usually eliminate jobs. Toby Hartman, who works at a bank, disagrees with Lucas. He thinks that Alcazar’s high economic growth and wellbeing have been driven by this increase in productivity.
Which of the following, if true, would weaken Lucas’ view that people are not better off?
a. The health sector which has the lowest level of productivity employs the largest number of people in Alcazar.
b. Increasing productivity has ensured that wage inflation in Alcazar does not result in higher product prices.
c. The retirement age in Alcazar, or the age at which citizens can collect retirement benefits, has been increased to 65 years.
d. Most of the growth in productivity was confined to the services sector while there was barely any improvement in the manufacturing sector.