September 14, 2026

Canada is hosting its Investment Summit over the coming days. A recent report projected Canada will need US$4.7 trillion in infrastructure investments by 2050, spanning roads, bridges, waterworks, hospitals, data centers and defense. Energy/natural resources are the #1 bucket at one third of this, or $1.6 trillion. Canada's investment in machinery and equipment is still below where it was in 2007, 19 years on (inflation adjusted). Broader business investment has barely grown, underperforming even the euro area, while the US has expanded steadily, although business investment stirred in Q2, see charts below. The bottom line is that reversing this requires a step change in business conditions and capital investment from both the public and private sectors. The Investment Summit, co-organized with CPP Investments and PSP Investments, is targeting $1 trillion of fresh investment over five years, particularly focused on energy projects and large-scale infrastructure. It will be a useful lens on how that ambition translates into projects and committed capital. Written by Huw van Steenis, London

September 13, 2026

The cost of setting up an LLC ranges from $1,000 in Massachusetts and $890 in California to just $35 in Montana, see chart below.

September 12, 2026

Too much saving pushed rates down for two decades. The problem was that there was more capital than projects to invest in. That has now changed. Today, there are more projects than capital. Think about what that does to price. When capital is abundant and projects are scarce, projects compete for capital, and they compete by accepting a lower return. When projects are abundant and capital is scarce, capital competes for projects, and it competes by demanding a higher return. The return that clears the market is a higher yield. Take the data center buildout as an example. It is not that the money isn't there. Hyperscalers have raised everything they have asked for. It is that they are paying more for it. Spreads on their longest-dated bonds have widened, and most of the paper issued in 2026 trades wider today than where it priced. Investors are still buying. They are just charging more. Note where the repricing lands. Data centers, power generation, transmission and government deficits are all long-duration claims on savings. So the competition for capital concentrates at the long end of the curve, which is why long rates have moved more than short rates. The bottom line is that we have been through a regime change. From a savings glut to a savings shortage, see chart below. With this backdrop, it is not surprising interest rates are going up.