Masters machine shop is considering a four-year project to improve its production efficiency. buying a new machine press for $425,000 is estimated to result in $169,000 in annual pretax cost savings. the press falls in the macrs five-year class, and it will have a salvage value at the end of the project of $69,000. the press also requires an initial investment in spare parts inventory of $28,000, along with an additional $3,500 in inventory for each succeeding year of the project. the shop’s tax rate is 23 percent and its discount rate is 10 percent.

The former chairman of the federal reserve, alan greenspan, used the term "irrational exuberance" in 1996 to describe the high levels of optimism among stock market investors at the time. stock market indexes such as the s& p composite price index were at an all-time high. some commentators believed that the fed should intervene to slow the expansion of the economy. why would central banks want to clamp down when the economy is growing? a. to block the formation of unsustainable speculative asset bubbles. b. to curtail excessive profits in the banking system. c. to prevent inflationary forces from gathering momentum. d. all of the above. e. a and c only.