US corporations are currently enjoying the cheapest cost of capital in more than half a century. According to Moody's, average corporate bond yields are just north of 5%. The difference is that back then, businesses were actually spending that cash they were able to borrow so cheaply, buying equipment and building factories and hiring workers. Today they're just hoarding it. Corporations are flush with cash coming off a huge profit cycle, says David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff and former chief economist at Merrill Lynch. Rosenberg points out that despite this abundance of cheap money, they're in the midst of one of the weakest investment cycles ever. Businesses aren't investing because of weak demand and absolutely zero clarity when it comes to US fiscal policy. This is at the heart of why the recovery has been so slow over the past four years.