The purchasing-power value figures for the minimum wage in dollars for the years 1 through 18 are shown here. Use these data and exponential smoothing to develop forecasts for the years 2 through 18. Try α = .1, .5, and .8, and compare the results using MAD. Discuss your findings. Select the value of alpha that worked best and use your exponential smoothing results to predict purchasing power for year19.

Purchasing Power Purchasing Power Year Year $6.04 5.92 5.57 5.40 5.17 5.00 4.91 4.73 4.55 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 $4.34 4.67 5.01 4.86 4.72 4.60 4.48 4.86 5.15 4