Stanley Jevons, an economist in the nineteenth century, noted a high correlation between economic prosperity and sunspots. Based on this observation he developed a "sunspot theory" of how the economy operated. We now know that Jevons
A) committed the fallacy of composition.
B) committed the ceteris paribus error.
C) was confusing causality.
D) showed good reasoning for the nineteenth but not the twentieth century.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Jevons was confusing causality by assuming that the correlation between sunspots and economic prosperity implied a causal relationship, without evidence of a direct causal link.

Stanley Jevons, an Economist in the Nineteenth Century, Noted a High