Everyone Is Ignoring A Sign Of US Economic Decline We Haven't Seen In 60 Years

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Everyone Is Ignoring A Sign Of US Economic Decline We Haven't Seen In 60 Years
Matthew Boesler | Aug. 30, 2012, 1:53 PM | 21,496 | 50
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inShare. Email Share on Tumblr digg UBS economist Drew Matus was on Bloomberg TV with Tom Keene this morning discussing the U.S. economy – and one rarely-discussed trend in particular that is somewhat alarming.

Matus told Bloomberg TV that the decline of the U.S. capital stock is a bad sign:

I would say that one of the things that people have generally ignored is that the U.S. capital stock is in decline. This is the first time post-war we've ever seen it. We don't know what the repercussions are because we have nothing in history to look back on and say, "Hey, last time it did this, this is what followed on it."

I would submit to you, though, that it's probably nothing good.

The capital stock Matus is referring to is American companies' investments in new equipment and software – one of the four main components in GDP – less the depreciation of existing equipment.

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