Identify Any Fallacies in the Following Passage Either by Naming

question 121

Short Answer

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
In a letter to the editor of a newspaper, a certified nutritionist criticized an editorial that had appeared earlier in the paper advocating a ban on raw milk. He wrote, "You call for an 'outright ban on commercial sales' of raw milk. Yet, by your own figures, you relate about 123 California cases of Salmonella dublin [food poisoning], which represents a miniscule danger compared to the lives lost by smoking cigarettes."
-Sacramento Bee

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Definitions:

Payback Period

This is the length of time required to recover the initial investment cost of a project, calculated by dividing the investment amount by the annual cash inflows.

Net Present Value

A calculation that compares the value of all cash inflows and outflows of a project or investment by discounting them to their present value.

Straight-Line Depreciation

A technique for distributing the expense of a physical asset across its lifespan in consistent yearly installments.

Required Rate Of Return

The rate that is generally based on the company’s cost of capital.