According to a Business Insider article, one of the greatest hopes in the wake of the financial crisis was that there would be a surge in business investment as companies replaced aging equipment.

The author noted that the case for a CAPEX boom was simple and clear: Equipment was getting old, and central banks were making it very cheap to finance this spending.

The article indicated for the most part, American businesses figured out how to make do with their existing equipment and, incredibly, managed to squeeze out higher profit margins even as equipment continued to age.