Global economy needs boost, developed countries' firms not investing enough

Companies in advanced countries are in a stronger position today but they are not investing enough to boost the global economy.

Rather than deploying their abundant cash in new investments to expand capacity and tap new markets, many companies have so far preferred (or have been pressured by activist investors) to give it back to shareholders, wrote Mohamed A El-Erian, CEO and co-CIO of Pimco, the world’s largest bond manager, in his Project Syndicate column.