Washburn recently purchased Parker Guitar, another guitar manufacturer that designs products for professionals and collectors, and will combine the two production facilities into a new location. Washburn expects the acquisition to reduce its rent and tax expenses by 40 percent, and the new skilled employees will reduce the hours of work needed for each unit by 15 percent. This would cause the slope of the total cost curve to __________ and the break-even quantity to __________.
a. decrease; stay the same
b. decrease; increase
c. increase; increase
d. stay the same; increase
E. DECREASE, DECREASE
Answer: E