Recent analysis of employment patterns in post-industrial cities has revealed unexpected complexity. While Detroit, Cleveland, and similar metropolita...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Recent analysis of employment patterns in post-industrial cities has revealed unexpected complexity. While Detroit, Cleveland, and similar metropolitan areas all lost substantial manufacturing jobs due to globalization and automation, their economic trajectories diverged dramatically afterward. Economist Amy Glasmeier's comprehensive study documented these contrasting outcomes through decades of employment data, showing that some cities managed job growth in emerging sectors while others continued declining. Traditional economic models focusing solely on manufacturing departure and globalization effects failed to account for such varied results across comparable urban centers. The research demonstrates that ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
employment data collected over multiple decades is likely more comprehensive than the information gathered from single-year economic studies.
urban economic decline likely resulted from multiple factors beyond globalization and manufacturing loss.
analyzing employment patterns in post-industrial cities will help economists better predict economic trends in developing nations.
cities experiencing job growth despite manufacturing decline likely benefited from different globalization effects than cities that continued declining.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Recent analysis of employment patterns in post-industrial cities has revealed unexpected complexity.' |
|
| 'While Detroit, Cleveland, and similar metropolitan areas all lost substantial manufacturing jobs due to globalization and automation, their economic trajectories diverged dramatically afterward.' |
|
| 'Economist Amy Glasmeier's comprehensive study documented these contrasting outcomes through decades of employment data, showing that some cities managed job growth in emerging sectors while others continued declining.' |
|
| 'Traditional economic models focusing solely on manufacturing departure and globalization effects failed to account for such varied results across comparable urban centers.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Research reveals that post-industrial cities with similar manufacturing job losses had dramatically different economic outcomes, suggesting traditional economic models are inadequate for explaining urban economic patterns.
Argument Flow: The passage opens with a claim about unexpected complexity in post-industrial employment patterns. It then supports this with evidence showing similar cities had different trajectories after losing manufacturing jobs, backed by Glasmeier's comprehensive study. The passage explains this complexity caught economists off-guard because traditional models focusing only on manufacturing departure and globalization couldn't account for such varied results.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The passage shows that traditional economic models couldn't explain why similar cities had such different outcomes
- Some cities grew in new sectors, others kept declining
- The models only looked at manufacturing loss and globalization, but that wasn't enough to predict what actually happened
- So the right answer should acknowledge that there are additional factors beyond what traditional models considered
employment data collected over multiple decades is likely more comprehensive than the information gathered from single-year economic studies.
✗ Incorrect
- Focuses on data collection methodology rather than what the research revealed about urban economics
- The passage isn't making a point about research methods
urban economic decline likely resulted from multiple factors beyond globalization and manufacturing loss.
✓ Correct
- Directly addresses that traditional models were inadequate, matching our analysis that additional factors must be at play beyond those the models considered
analyzing employment patterns in post-industrial cities will help economists better predict economic trends in developing nations.
✗ Incorrect
- Introduces developing nations not mentioned in the passage
- The research was specifically about post-industrial cities
cities experiencing job growth despite manufacturing decline likely benefited from different globalization effects than cities that continued declining.
✗ Incorrect
- Suggests the answer lies in different globalization effects, but the passage indicates the problem is that models focused only on globalization and missed something bigger