Someone notices that sunspot activity is high just prior to recessions and concludes that sunspots cause recessions. This person has:
A) confused association and causation.
B) misunderstood the Ceteris paribus assumption.
C) used normative economics to answer a positive question.
D) built an untestable model.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This person has confused association (two variables occurring together) with causation (one variable causing the other). Just because two variables occur together does not mean that one causes the other. There could be other factors at play that cause both variables to change at the same time.

Someone Notices That Sunspot Activity Is High Just Prior to Recessions