Why the impressive pace of investment growth looks likely to endure
Supply chains, technological change and climate targets will all demand more capital spending in the 2020s
FOR YEARS after the global financial crisis the world economy was starved of investment. The aftermath of the covid-19 downturn has been drastically different. In America private non-residential investment is only about 5% below its pre-pandemic trend, compared with a shortfall of nearly 25% in mid-2010, the equivalent point in the previous economic cycle (see chart). The country has enjoyed the fastest rebound in business investment in any recovery since the 1940s, according to Morgan Stanley, a bank. In the rich world as a whole, predicts the World Bank, total investment will have overtaken its pre-pandemic trend by 2023.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The urge to splurge”
Finance & economics February 5th 2022
- Why the impressive pace of investment growth looks likely to endure
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- The global interest bill is about to jump
- Why India’s stockmarket is roaring
- Why stockmarket jitters have not so far spread to the credit market
- China may soon become a high-income country
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