Skip to content
Latest
Markets at the closeAs of close, Nov 13, 2026Nasdaq −0.9% · S&P 500 −0.4% · Dow +0.1%Japan's GDP and China's October Data Open the Week Before Monday's Empire State Survey and Warsh RemarksBitcoin Falls to $62,112 in Sunday Trading, Its Lowest Since JulyBahrain Says It Intercepted Iranian Attacks; Brent Last Settled at $95.84 After IEA Surplus ReportHow a Spot Bitcoin ETF Works, and What 'Net Withdrawals' MeanHow to Read a Preliminary GDP Estimate, With Japan's Third Quarter as the Example15-Year vs. 30-Year Mortgage: What a 6.45 Percent and a 7.11 Percent Rate Cost on $300,000
Yield Update
Subscribe
TechAnalysisPast Article

Long Projects Feel the Discount Rate First

A dollar promised for 2036 is not a dollar promised for next spring. The rate used to compare them is the whole argument.

By Priya Raman, Tech and Business Analyst

New York1 min read

blue circuit board
blue circuit boardPhoto by Umberto on Unsplash

Technology spending is often a long project: a data center, a chip design, a software rebuild that pays back over years. The cash arrives late. To compare it with cash you could hold now, you discount it. A higher discount rate makes the late cash smaller in today's terms.

Short projects care less. A contract that pays this year barely notices a half-point move in the ten-year note. A project that pays in year twelve notices it twice, once in the financing and once in the present value. The distinction is why interest rates and technology spending are so often discussed together.

Subscriber content

This story is in the archive

Create a free account to read one article a day, or subscribe for full access.

SubscribeCreate account

Already have an account? Log in

See an error? Request a correction.