For the first time in more than 20 years, U.S. capital spending has broken to new record highs and seems poised to remain robust for some time. As shown in Chart 1, core capital goods spending (i.e., non-defense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft) stalled after its early 2000 dot-com peak and was stuck in a broad sideways range until late 2020. Over the last year, though, capital goods spending has surged by 25.2%, its biggest twelve-month jump since early 1993!