PrepTest 140, Section 1, Question 25
It is unethical for government officials to use(19 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AA company whose(36 more words not shown)
- BA retired high-ranking(26 more words not shown)
- CAfter a tax(32 more words not shown)
- DA Finance Department(35 more words not shown)
- EAn official with(27 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The advantage comes from knowing what the public doesn't know yet. The rule targets a government official using advance knowledge of a policy to gain financially.
For example, imagine an official learns privately about a planned oil tariff and makes an investment designed to profit when the plan becomes public. That would combine the relevant pieces: a current official, nonpublic knowledge of an impending policy, and personal financial benefit from using that knowledge.
What we’re looking for
The question asks which action is unethical under this particular principle. Check those pieces rather than choose whatever looks suspicious. The rule doesn't condemn every profitable act by a government employee.
Working the answers
- A
The bidder's former manager now works for the department, but we aren't told that the official used private policy information for personal financial benefit. Even the company's winning the contract isn't established. Keeping bidders' names private doesn't supply the missing conduct by the official.
- B
The officer is retired and uses contacts to obtain business. That may raise other questions, but it doesn't establish a current official using nonpublic knowledge of an impending policy to enrich himself. Connections and advance policy information aren't the same thing.
- C
The tax law has already been enacted, and the official uses arrangements allowed by that law. The answer doesn't describe using advance policy information unavailable to the public. A financial benefit alone isn't enough to trigger the principle.
- DCorrect
The official knows of the planned luxury-car tax before the public announcement and buys a car early specifically to avoid paying it. Avoiding a tax is a financial benefit just as earning a profit would be. A current official uses nonpublic knowledge of an impending policy to secure that personal advantage, matching every relevant part of the rule.
- E
The official sells after announcing the investigation to the public. The answer therefore doesn't show her using the information while it remains unavailable to everyone else. We don't need to declare the sale ethical under every possible rule; this particular principle doesn't establish that it is unethical.
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