Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R).
Assertion (A): A combination of goods lying strictly below the production possibility frontier shows that some resources are underemployed or used in a wasteful way.
Reason (R): The production possibility frontier slopes downward because having more of one good means having less of the other good.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
Assertion (A): A combination of goods lying strictly below the production possibility frontier shows that some resources are underemployed or used in a wasteful way. — True. The frontier shows the most that can be produced. Producing less than the most means some resources are idle or wasted.
Reason (R): The production possibility frontier slopes downward because having more of one good means having less of the other good. — True. With given resources, more of one good leaves fewer resources for the other good.
Why R does not explain A?
R explains the shape of the frontier: why it slopes downward. It says nothing about points that lie below it.
A is true because the frontier shows output with resources fully utilised. A point below it gives less than this, so some resources are not fully used.
NCERT (2026-27): “The production possibility frontier gives the combinations of corn and cotton that can be produced when the resources of the economy are fully utilised. Note that a point lying strictly below the production possibility frontier represents a combination of corn and cotton that will be produced when all or some of the resources are either underemployed or are utilised in a wasteful fashion.” “If more of the scarce resources are used in the production of corn, less resources are available for the production of cotton and vice versa. Therefore, if we want to have more of one of the goods, we will have less of the other good.” |