Corporate spending needs a tonic

The need to raise business spending in the US remains the final hurdle. Corporate spending in the US needs to pick up in order to convince most commentators that a sustained economic recovery is under way. Remember the second half of 2000? US corporate spending fell dramatically, by almost 15%, compared to the same period in 1999. The equity bear and bond bull had emerged together from the undergrowth. An era of significant interest rate cuts had begun, and US government bonds began the most powerful three-year outperformance of equities since the early 1930s. Where are we today? Consumer...