Capital Spending Report from Census Bureau: On the Rise
In an e-mail tip, Matt at Weapons of Mass Discussion “blames Bush” for this report (link is to PR release; actual PDF of report is here) about “the worst economy since Herbert Hoover”:
Capital Spending Up 10 Percent (in 2005), Reaches $1.1 Trillion
Has the rise continued since 2005? Almost definitely, according to the researchers extraordinaire at Global Insight, who said this in August of last year:
Last year saw the return of capital spending growth in the United States. Global Insight’s five-year capital spending forecast calls for average annual growth in fixed equipment investment to accelerate to 6.4% per year from now through 2010.
Corporations played cap spending very close to the vest in the first few years after 9/11 attacks, but they have finally loosened up. Perhaps this is because of a renewed confidence that the chances of another serious domestic terror attack have gone down (note that I’m not opining on whether that confidence is misplaced).
