David Stockmans Contra Corner

The AI CapEx Boom, Scorching Cash Burns And Dotcom Circle Jerk 2.0 (Part 2)

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david stockman
Aug 05, 2026
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In Part 1 we revisited the late-1990s telecom and technology equipment boom and showed how booming reported sales and earnings at the tech high flyers of the day— Cisco, Nortel, Lucent and their peers—-rested upon three unstable pillars:

  • scorching venture-capital burn rates.

  • circular money flows via vendor financing.

  • highly speculative capital-market equit…

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