---
id: "quote-end-of-inexpensive-capital"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["\\\"§ So Long", "Cheap Capital\\\""]
tags: ["macroeconomics", "capital-markets"]
related: ["concept-end-of-cheap-capital", "claim-wacc-historical-norms"]
speaker: "Michael Mankins and Matthew Crupi"
speakers: ["Michael Mankins", "Matthew Crupi"]
quote: "Taken together, rising fiscal deficits and surging demand for private investment are likely to reverse the nearly two-decade era of inexpensive capital. By 2030, we expect the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for many large companies to return to historical norms and settle in the high single digits."
sources: ["reskilling"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-reskilling"
originDay: 10
articleStem: "hbr-sig-49-ai-squeezing-middle-managers"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/ai-is-squeezing-middle-managers"
sourceTitle: "AI Is Squeezing Middle Managers"
---
# End of Inexpensive Capital

> "Taken together, rising fiscal deficits and surging demand for private investment are likely to reverse the nearly two-decade era of inexpensive capital. By 2030, we expect the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for many large companies to return to historical norms and settle in the high single digits."
> — [[entity-michael-mankins|Michael Mankins]] & [[entity-matthew-crupi|Matthew Crupi]]

**Context.** Mankins and Crupi summarizing the macroeconomic forces closing the window on cheap corporate borrowing. Primary evidence for [[concept-end-of-cheap-capital]] and [[claim-wacc-historical-norms]] (note the 2030 figure is a forward-looking Bain estimate per the enrichment overlay).

Related: [[concept-end-of-cheap-capital]] · [[claim-wacc-historical-norms]] · [[prereq-wacc]]