by Calculated Risk on 8/21/2010 12:49:00 PM

"I could borrow $2 billion tomorrow for 3 1/2 percent. But what am I going to do with it?"David Speer, CEO of Illinois Tool Works which has 60,000 employees worldwide in more than 800 business units and $14 billion in sales.

The above quote is from an article by Neil Irwin in the WaPo: With consumers slow to spend, businesses are slow to hire

There is no reason to invest when there is excess capacity in most industries (and excess supply in housing). This excess capacity or lack of demand - and therefore lack of new investment - is a key reason why the recovery is sluggish.