The misery index is the sum of a countrys unemployment and inflation rate. The higher the index, the more miserable is the country to live in. The figure given below is the Misery Index for various countries in Europe : Which of the following conclusions

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Q: 131 (IAS/1998)
The misery index is the sum of a country’s unemployment and inflation rate. The higher the index, the more miserable is the country to live in. The figure given below is the Misery Index for various countries in Europe :
Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the misery index given above ?
I. Britain is the most miserable country to live in.
II. The inflation rate in Spain is less than that in Belgium and Britain.
III. Italy and France seem to have almost identical unemployment rate.
IV. The higher the misery index, the higher the inflation rate.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

question_subject: 

Logic/Reasoning

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,9,15,2,9,8,5

keywords: 

{'misery index': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'index': [0, 2, 4, 7], 'identical unemployment rate': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'miserable country': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'inflation rate': [0, 0, 0, 3], 'italy': [14, 5, 13, 11], 'unemployment': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'europe': [10, 4, 7, 13], 'various countries': [1, 2, 2, 1], 'belgium': [6, 2, 8, 4], 'spain': [12, 3, 9, 5], 'france': [1, 0, 0, 0], 'iv': [6, 110, 77, 8], 'britain': [18, 4, 2, 7]}

The Misery Index sums a country`s unemployment and inflation rates: the higher the index, the more `miserable` or economically unstable it is deemed.

Option 1 suggests that Britain is the most miserable country. But without seeing the figures in the problem, this can`t be verified.

Option 2 implies the inflation in Spain is less than Belgium and Britain. While the Misery Index doesn`t explicitly state inflation rates, a lower Index in Spain could suggest lower inflation than in countries with higher Indexes.

Option 3 claims Italy and France have near-identical unemployment rates. Similarly, if their Misery Indexes are close, this is potentially true, unless one has a significantly higher inflation rate.

Option 4 assumes that the higher the Misery Index, the higher the inflation rate. This is not necessarily true. A high Misery Index could be due to relatively high levels of either inflation, unemployment, or both.

Given the answer, it seems that the Misery Index figures supported options II and III: Spain has less inflation than Belgium and Britain, and Italy and France have similar unemployment rates.

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