Sales for Merit Marine, which had increased at an annual rate of 16 percent between 1977 and 1981, dropped sharply in 1982 and 1983, as shown in Exhibit 3. The decline was a function of a severe recession, high interest rates, and oil prices. The subsequent economic recovery and the decline in oil prices brought a stronger market for Olympus’s products in Florida, which allowed Merit’s 1984 sales to increase 30 percent, to $120 million.