The standard measures of nominal capital formation show the United States investing a proportion of GDP much lower than those of other developed countries throughout the last 2 years and falling further behind over time. In contrast, measures we have calculated in real terms across and over time...

Japanese government planners use the average age of the manufacturing capital stock as one measure of their country's international "competitiveness." Compared to the U.S., the data show that Japanese depreciation rates are higher and that capital stocks are younger. ; In much of economic...