With U.S. companies sitting on an estimated $1.8 trillion in cash, it raises the question: Why aren’t they deploying more of their hoard to expand their businesses Or one might channel John Maynard Keynes to ask: Where have the "animal spirits" gone Although capital spending in the U.S. is up 12 percent since the lows of early 2009, it’s still running $88 billion below the peak of $1.34 trillion reached in the first quarter of 2008, says Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank. He doesn’t expect capital spending to catch up to that peak level and officially start to expand until the second quarter of 2011. (LaVorgna’s definition of capital spending includes physical equipment and software, but not structures such as new stores or manufacturing plants. Spending on structures is about 2 percent of gross domestic product, one-third the size of capital sending’s contribution to GDP, he says.)
"The trend and momentum have definitely turned and it’s just a matter of time before you see other companies give way to capital spending, and eventually that will result in hiring," says LaVorgna. But with spending running $88 billion below peak, he says employment "should be farther along than it is." Companies that have built up a lot of cash are starting to take some chances such as expanding into new markets, which requires hiring new workers, says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment consulting firm. U.S. companies have announced the hiring of 118,209 new employees through August, according to data collected by the firm.
So who’s stepping up to the plate Some companies refuse to be cowed and are taking big, if calculated, chances, including ambitious capital projects, hiring new workers, and expanded investment in research and development, according to growth-oriented mutual fund managers contacted by Businessweek.com. If there’s a common denominator, it’s a perceived opportunity and confidence in sustainable demand, whether due to new trends in technology or to new markets that need certain products. Other names came from a list of the top-hiring U.S. companies through July 2010 compiled by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
"We don’t spend capital unless we have a new contract to supply oxygen, nitrogen, or hydrogen to our customers," says James Sawyer, Praxair’s chief financial officer. "Those are 15-year contracts with minimal take-or-pay clauses written into them, which ensure we will get a good return on our capital investment, regardless of how the rest of the economy is doing."
Some younger outfits with entrepreneurial managers who have lived through a few business cycles think their companies may be able to steal a march on competitors more reluctant to spend, says Aram Green, manager of Clear Bridge Advisors Small Cap Growth Fund. "There’s clearly been a decision by management that ’This is not the time to take our foot off the accelerator. In fact, it’s time to push harder and further distance our product from the competition.’\
By citing the words of Aram Green, the author intends to show that（）
A. younger managers prefer to have natural development of a company
B. capital investment leads to an edge of a company over its competitors
C. companies do not want to fall behind their competitors
D. management wants to have new contracts more than they did before
参考答案：B
解析：
[试题类型] 推理引申题。
[解题思路] 根据题干关键词Aram Green定位至第五段。文中提到在Aram Green看来，年轻的企业希望以领先一步，超过那些不愿意投资的竞争对手(steal a march on competitors more reluctant to spend)，并且现在应该加大投资力度，使产品远超竞争对手。由此可见，作者引用Aram Green的话是要说明资本投资可以使公司具备压倒对手的竞争优势，故正确选项为[B]。
[干扰排除] 文中只提到了年轻的企业(younger outfits)及企业家经理人(entrepreneurial managers)而没有提到更加年轻的经理人(younger managers)，并且，这些经理人希望通过资金投资来超越竞争对手，而不是倾向于企业的自然发展，故排除选项[A]。任何企业都不想落后于其他公司，这是常识，但不是作者引用Aram Green的话想要说明的问题，故排除选项[C]。第四段提到了签订新合同(have a new contract)，是某些公司在进行资本投资时规避风险的一种做法。文中第五段提到管理层(management)希望加大投资力度使产品远超竞争对手，但没有提到他们希望签署更多的合同，并且，这也不是作者引用Aram Green的话想要说明的问题，故排除选项[D]。