Neither a rising standard of living nor balanced trade, by itself, establishes a country's ability to compete in the international marketplace. Both are reguired simultaneously since standards of living can rise because of growing trade deficits and trade can be balanced by means of a decline in a country's standard of living.
If the facts stated in the passage above are true, a proper test of a country's ability to be competitive is its ability to
A: balance its trade while its standard of living rises
B:balance its trade while its standard of living falls
C:increase trade deficits while its standard of living rises
D:decrease trade deficits while its standard of living falls
E:keep its standard of living constant while trade deficits rise