If things feel more decrepit and worn-out these days, it’s because they are. The average age of the U.S. capital stock is at a 40-year high in all three major categories: nonresidential, residential, and government. Take a look at this chart:
One unpleasant surprise after another, from the top down.
Let’s break it down by industry. This chart shows the change in the average age of the capital stock since 2000.
It’s kind of an odd and surprising picture. The sectors which got younger were mining, farming, and transportation. The information sector, which was supposed to be leading the economy, had the biggest rise in average age. That’s because we just weren’t investing enough in information technology over this stretch to make up for the aging of the old physical infrastructure.
This article is cross-posted at Innovation and growth