What does the following quote by historian Robert Allen regarding the importance of high wages and cheap energy, mean? "Wages were high and energy was cheap. These prices led directly to the Industrial Revolution by giving firms strong incentives to invent technologies that substituted capital and coal for labor." a.

High wages and cheap energy created cheaper ways to produce items (rather than hand making), so, manufacturers pursued new ways to use machines to improve productions.

b.

High wages and cheap energy did not allow for a cheaper way to make a product; thus, manufacturers relied on government supplements to fund invention.