When capital spending eventually recovers, its growth is likely to be less frenetic than that which characterized 1999 and early 2000, when outlays were boosted by the dislocations of Y2K and the extraordinarily low cost of capital faced by many firms. Still, the evidence strongly suggests that new technologies will present ample opportunities to earn enhanced rates of return.
Indeed, anecdotal reports from businesses around the country suggest that the exploitation of available networking and other information technologies was only partially completed when the cyclical retrenchment of the past year began.