The function of capital markets is to facilitate an exchange of funds among all participants, and yet in practice we find that certain participants are not on a par with others. Members of society have varying degrees of market strength in terms of information they bring to a transaction, as well as of purchasing power and creditworthiness, as defined by lenders.
For example, within minority communities, capital markets do not properly fulfill their functions; they do not provide access to the aggregate flow of funds in the United States. The financial system does not generate the credit or investment vehicles needed for underwriting economic development in minority areas. The problem underlying this dysfunction is found in a rationing mechanism affecting both the available alternatives for investment and the amount of financial resources. This creates a distributive mechanism penalizing members of minority groups because of their socioeconomic differences from others. The existing system expresses definite socially based investment preferences that result from the previous allocation of income and that influence the allocation of resources for the present and future. The system tends to increase the inequality of income distribution. And, in the United States economy, a greater inequality of income distribution leads to a greater concentration of capital in certain types of investment.
Most traditional financial-market analysis studies ignore financial markets’ deficiencies in allocation because of analysts’ inherent preferences for the simple model of perfect competition. Conventional financial analysis pays limited attention to issues of market structure and dynamics, relative costs of information, and problems of income distribution. Market participants are viewed as acting as entirely independent and homogeneous individuals with perfect foresight about capital-market behavior. Also, it is assumed that each individual in the community at large has the same access to the market and the same opportunity to transact and to express the preference appropriate to his or her individual interest. Moreover, it is assumed that transaction costs for various types of financial instruments (stocks, bonds, etc.) are equally known and equally divided among all community members.
280. Which of the following can be inferred about minority communities on the basis of the
passage?
(A) They provide a significant portion of the funds that become available for investment in the
financial market.
(B) They are penalized by the tax system, which increases the inequality of the distribution of
income between investors and wage earners.
(C) They do no receive the share of the amount of funds available for investment that would be
expected according to traditional financial-market analysis.
(D) They are not granted governmental subsidies to assist in underwriting the cost of economic
development
(E) They provide the same access to alternative sources of credit to finance businesses as do
majority communities.
280.
This question asks you to use information provided in the passage in order to draw an inference
about minority communities. Choice C is the best answer. According to the passage, traditional
financial-market analysis assumes equal access to the market for all participants; according to the
author, however, minority communities do not have equal access to the market. Thus it may be
inferred that while traditional analysis assumes that all communities will receive their share of
available funds, in reality those funds are disproportionately allocated to majority communities.
Choices A and B are incorrect because the passage does not discuss either the origins of funds
available for investment any tax penalties that may be incurred by certain investors. While this
statement in D could be true, there is not enough information provided in the passage to support
such an inference. Choice E is incorrect because the passage does not assert or suggest that equal
access to any sources of credit is provided in minority communities.
看OG的解释的过程中，我们确实会发现，此题需要把握全文的信息。
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