Economist: A country' s trade deficit may indicate weakness in its economy, but it does not in itself weaken that economy. So restricting imports to reduce a trade deficit would be like sticking a thermometer into a glass of cold water in the hope of bringing down a patient' s feverish temperature. The economist's argument employs which one of the following techniques? ['showing that a recommended course of action would have disastrous consequences', 'demonstrating that an analogy explicitly used to establish a certain conclusion is faulty', 'calling into question the authority on the basis of which a claim is made', 'appealing to an analogy in order to indicate the futility of a course of action']