Factories, office buildings, computers, tractors and trucks are all capital investments that increase the economy's ability to produce and distribute more and better goods and services to consumers at the lowest possible cost. The ultimate source of capital improvement is the human mind. America's greatest economic asset is our people. Knowledge is capital. Invention is capital.
Technological improvement is capital.
The spirit of entrepreneurship is capital. The spark of an idea that leads to a new business or a new way of doing things is capital. Ten years ago when Bill Gates decided to form a computer softwear company and then invented MS-DOS, he was creating capital. So were the original investors who put money behind Microsoft. Thanks to the vision of Bill Gates and the risk-taking of his investors, Microsoft is now a globally dominant American firm employing 15,000 U.S. workers at high wages.