capital investment Archives - the patient investor

May 12, 2015

Ludwig von Mises: The Causes of Economic Crisis (1931)

Credit expansion cannot increase the supply of real goods. It merely brings about a rearrangement. It diverts capital investment away from the course prescribed by the state of economic wealth and market conditions. It causes production to pursue paths which it would not follow unless the economy were to acquire an increase in material goods. As a result, the upswing lacks a solid base. It is not a real prosperity. It is illusory prosperity. It did not develop from an increase in economic wealth [i.e. the accumulation of savings made available for productive investment]. Rather, it arose because the credit expansion created the illusion of such an increase. Sooner or later, it must become apparent that this economic situation is built on sand.

Hat tip to John Hussman

August 12, 2013

Anemic Business Investment Indicts U.S. Policies | Cato @ Liberty

Daniel J. Ikenson at the Cato Institute highlights the declining share of global investment attracted to the US as developing countries grow more competitive:

The good news is that the $3.5 trillion of foreign direct investment parked in the United States accounted for 17 percent of the world’s direct investment stock in 2011 – more than triple the share of the next largest single-country destination. The troubling news is that in 1999 the United States accounted for 39 percent of the world’s investment stock.

Politicians need to be aware that they are competing, as a country, for new investment against a myriad of other attractive options.

Unlike ever before, the world’s producers have a wealth of options when it comes to where and how they organize product development, production, assembly, distribution, and other functions on the continuum from product conception to consumption. As businesses look to the most productive combinations of labor and capital, to the most efficient production processes, and to the best ways of getting products and services to market, perceptions about the business environment can be determinative.

Their focus should be on minimizing red tape, lowering taxes, stabilizing exchange rates and ensuring competitive prices for basic goods and services. Failure to adapt could lead to a dearth of new investment and the consequent problems now evident in Southern Europe.

July 31, 2012

STEPHEN ROACH: America Can't Keep Relying On Spending To Drive The Economy – Business Insider

STEPHEN ROACH highlights the importance of capital investment in any US recovery:

Over the last 18 quarters, annualized growth in real consumer demand has averaged a mere 0.7%, compared to a 3.6% growth trend in the decade before the crisis erupted…… Consumption typically accounts for 70% of GDP (71% in the second quarter, to be precise). But the 70% is barely growing, and is unlikely to expand strongly at any point in the foreseeable future. That puts an enormous burden on the other 30% of the US economy to generate any sort of recovery.

Capital spending and exports, which together account for about 24% of GDP, hold the key to this shift. At just over 10% of GDP, the share of capital spending is well below the peak of nearly 13% in 2000. But capital spending must exceed that peak if US businesses are to be equipped with state-of-the-art capacity, technology, and private infrastructure that will enable them to recapture market share at home and abroad. Only then could export growth, impressive since mid-2009, sustain further increases. And only then could the US stem the rising tide of import penetration by foreign producers.

via STEPHEN ROACH: America Can't Keep Relying On Spending To Drive The Economy – Business Insider.

May 16, 2012

FedEx CEO on How Tax Policy Weakens U.S. Economy – WSJ online

FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith talks about how capital investment and lowering corporate tax rates are the main solutions to creating U.S. jobs. He speaks with WSJ’s Alan Murray at Viewpoints West.

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March 19, 2012

EconoMonitor » All Feasts Must Come to an End: China’s Debt & Investment Fuelled Growth

Satyajit Das: New lending by Chinese banks in 2009 and 2010 was around 40% of GDP. New bank loans in 2009 and 2010 totalled around $1.1-1.4 trillion, an increase from $740 billion in 2008. Total outstanding loans in the economy have jumped by nearly 50 per cent over the past two years.

Around 90% of this lending was directed towards investment in building, plant, machinery and infrastructure by State Owned Enterprises (“SOE”). In 2010, China allocated over $2.6 trillion to investment expenditure – the highest proportion of GDP of any major economy in the world. According to the World Bank, almost all of China’s growth since 2008 has come from “government influenced expenditure”.

via EconoMonitor : EconoMonitor » All Feasts Must Come to an End: China’s Debt & Investment Fuelled Growth, Part 1.

January 26, 2012

Business Sector Is More Open for Business – Real Time Economics – WSJ

The business investment momentum is continuing into 2012. New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft–a proxy for future business spending–increased 2.9% in December, reversing the two previous monthly drops. The backlog of unfilled orders is also on the rise. Fulfilling that pent-up demand means more industrial production in 2012.

via Business Sector Is More Open for Business – Real Time Economics – WSJ.

October 31, 2011

Candidates Mold Economic Teams – WSJ.com

The Cain campaign, in addition to Mr. Lowrie, lists a handful of advisers who helped craft his plan for “Opportunity Zones.” The zones are designed to help distressed communities by offering lower tax rates to attract businesses and allowing more flexibility on rules such as the minimum-wage law.

via Candidates Mold Economic Teams – WSJ.com.

I have seen this tried before. The low tax rates or incentives attract industries that are labor intensive but not capital intensive. When the subsidies are later removed, many of the businesses move on. If you want them to stay, you have to create incentives for capital investment that cannot be easily re-located.

….Otherwise provide training and incentives for people to move to where the work is.

October 17, 2011

Rob Parenteau: Blinded by Faith – Sinking the Eurozone « naked capitalism

Policy makers in the [euro-zone] core believe in the sustainability of export led growth strategies. Keynes warned about this in the last piece he published before his death. If the reserves earned by current account surplus nations like Germany, Austria, etc. are not reinvested in productive capital equipment and structures in the current account deficit nations, then the deficit nations will not be able to earn the income required to service their external debt in the future. They will default. Or, as economist Jan Kregel put it in very clear terms, if Germany wishes to run a sustained current account surplus with the periphery, Germany can chose to accept either liabilities issued by the periphery, or tradeable goods provided by the periphery, but they do not have the option of choosing neither.

It is not in the best interest of the creditor/current account surplus nations to continually accumulate liabilities issued by debtor/current account deficit nations if this simply leads to eventual default on those obligations, but the economists and policy makers in the eurozone are too myopic and too blinded by faith to see this. The European Investment Bank could be used to recycle current account surpluses into productive capital investment in the periphery in a sustainable fashion, but instead, policy makers remain wedded to the faith based economic belief that export led growth strategies are both sustainable and optimal.

via Rob Parenteau: Blinded by Faith – Sinking the Eurozone « naked capitalism.

September 28, 2011

It’s Man vs. Machine and Man Is Losing – WSJ

Since the recession ended, businesses had increased their real spending on equipment and software by a strong 26%, while they have added almost nothing to their payrolls.

via It’s Man vs. Machine and Man Is Losing – Real Time Economics – WSJ.