The accompanying data indicate the number of mergers that took place in an ind

The accompanying data indicate the number of mergers that took place in an industry over a 19-year period.
Year

Mergers

Year

Mergers

Year

Mergers

1

23

8

64

14

150

2

23

9

47

15

165

3

31

10

96

16

192

4

23

11

125

17

210

5

32

12

140

18

250

6

32

13

160

19

300

7

42

a) Fit a least squares trend line to the merger data.

b) What type of trend (linear or curved) might best fit to this time series?

c) Compute the forecast for year 20 based on the trend (linear or curved) that best fits
the data?