Policy analyst: CAFTA the Central American Free Trade

Policy analyst: CAFTA—the Central American Free Trade Agreement—is a good thing. If we enact CAFTA, we essentially drop trade barriers between the US and a host of Central American companies; that means lower production costs for American companies, lower retail prices for American consumers, and more income from exports for the US. These are undeniably good things. But all good things in economic policy come at a price. The price of CAFTA’s benefits is the outsourcing of American jobs. For prices to drop and companies to make more money, overhead costs must be slashed. CAFTA lets companies send all their manufacturing jobs to Central America, where workers make a fraction of what American workers make and where factories are poorly regulated and thus cheap to operate. In the end, the savings of the average American at the store will not compensate for the loss of income from outsourcing.

The boldface portion of the analyst’s argument serve what function?


(A) The first offers the analyst’s conclusion; the second gives a consideration that counts against that conclusion.
(B) The first presents a reason in favor of the analyst’s conclusion; the second is that conclusion.
(C) The first gives a reason that counts against the analyst’s conclusion; the second gives a reason that the analyst thinks supports the first reason.
(D) The first is a factor that weighs against the analyst’s conclusion; the second presents an explanation of why this consideration should be disregarded.
(E) The first is the analyst’s conclusion; the second presents a consequence of that conclusion.