{
  "generatedAt": "2026-10-22T05:16:19Z",
  "disclaimer": "Analysis and opinion, not investment advice.",
  "kind": "person",
  "slug": "stephen-clapham",
  "name": "Stephen Clapham",
  "role": "Behind the Balance Sheet",
  "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/people/stephen-clapham/",
  "api": "https://deepstack.ltd/api/v1/entities/people/stephen-clapham.json",
  "summary": "Stephen Clapham is named in 6 Parts of The Buildout, most recently Part 9: Habit Was the Moat. Agents Are Draining It.. Argued in Part 7 (Debt: 99% of GDP, up from 35%), Part 9 (The rails and the atoms).",
  "parts": [
    {
      "part": 1,
      "headline": "Nvidia’s Demand Is Real. Its Financing Is Fragile.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/nvidias-demand-insatiable-or-manufactured/"
    },
    {
      "part": 2,
      "headline": "SpaceX Is Funding an AI Bet Before the Proof",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/spacex-after-the-ipo-exit-liquidity/"
    },
    {
      "part": 6,
      "headline": "Power Doesn’t Depreciate. Its Premium Moves.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/power-doesnt-depreciate/"
    },
    {
      "part": 7,
      "headline": "The Fed Hiked. The Long End Still Climbed.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/the-fed-hiked-the-long-end-kept-climbing/"
    },
    {
      "part": 8,
      "headline": "AI Lenders Are Financing the End of Scarcity",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/the-scarcity-is-the-collateral/"
    },
    {
      "part": 9,
      "headline": "Habit Was the Moat. Agents Are Draining It.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/habit-was-the-moat/"
    }
  ],
  "numbers": [],
  "mentions": [
    {
      "part": 1,
      "section": "Long the chips, short the returns",
      "excerpt": "Stephen Clapham, relaying Boston Partners’ analysis in The $4.4 Trillion Question, takes the issue to its terminal form: whether AI data-center economics ever earn an adequate return for anyone, Nvidia included.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/nvidias-demand-insatiable-or-manufactured/"
    },
    {
      "part": 2,
      "section": "Three businesses, one ticker",
      "excerpt": "Stephen Clapham of Behind the Balance Sheet asked in a June 7 analysis why Musk is listing now.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/spacex-after-the-ipo-exit-liquidity/"
    },
    {
      "part": 6,
      "section": "The rent will move",
      "excerpt": "Stephen Clapham sees Kirby selling primary power rather than backup.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/power-doesnt-depreciate/"
    },
    {
      "part": 7,
      "section": "Three prices for 5%",
      "excerpt": "Stephen Clapham’s portfolio answer is close to zero exposure to Treasuries, except for long bonds issued at pandemic-era coupons that now trade near half their face value.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/the-fed-hiked-the-long-end-kept-climbing/"
    },
    {
      "part": 8,
      "section": "Cash, or a loop",
      "excerpt": "Stephen Clapham sees rising data-center costs, falling token prices and cheaper models, many of them Chinese, pressing on returns.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/the-scarcity-is-the-collateral/"
    },
    {
      "part": 9,
      "section": "The tollbooth shifts",
      "excerpt": "Stephen Clapham’s tank-terminal example makes the boundary vivid: land, permits, money and years are not a checkout feature.",
      "url": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/habit-was-the-moat/"
    }
  ],
  "sides": [
    {
      "part": 7,
      "question": null,
      "side": "debt",
      "sideLabel": "Debt: 99% of GDP, up from 35%",
      "claim": "Stephen Clapham states they would maintain a near-zero weight in US Treasuries, other than those trading at a near-50% discount to nominal value which they see as an asymmetric bet, a position they say they have covered in recent weeks.",
      "date": "2026-09-20",
      "url": "https://behindthebalancesheet.substack.com/p/what-investors-are-missing-about",
      "linkVerified": true,
      "storyUrl": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/the-fed-hiked-the-long-end-kept-climbing/",
      "sidesUrl": "https://deepstack.ltd/sides/the-fed-hiked-the-long-end-kept-climbing/"
    },
    {
      "part": 7,
      "question": null,
      "side": "debt",
      "sideLabel": "Debt: 99% of GDP, up from 35%",
      "claim": "A rise in short rates would be a problem given the government funds around 85% of its financing needs (the flow) with short-term bills, though on a stock basis bonds of over 5 years duration are only about 30% of the total, still a fairly…",
      "date": "2026-09-06",
      "url": null,
      "linkVerified": false,
      "storyUrl": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/the-fed-hiked-the-long-end-kept-climbing/",
      "sidesUrl": "https://deepstack.ltd/sides/the-fed-hiked-the-long-end-kept-climbing/"
    },
    {
      "part": 9,
      "question": "who-collects",
      "side": "rails-and-atoms",
      "sideLabel": "The rails and the atoms",
      "claim": "Stephen Clapham notes the FT panel did not explain the post-2022 fall in the graduate premium, and argues part of it is non-graduate pay rising rather than graduates faring worse, citing rocketing US demand for electricians, while judging AI too…",
      "date": "2026-09-13",
      "url": "https://behindthebalancesheet.substack.com/p/when-the-numbers-dont-add-up",
      "linkVerified": true,
      "storyUrl": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/habit-was-the-moat/",
      "sidesUrl": "https://deepstack.ltd/sides/habit-was-the-moat/"
    },
    {
      "part": 9,
      "question": "who-collects",
      "side": "rails-and-atoms",
      "sideLabel": "The rails and the atoms",
      "claim": "Moritz argued that AI is the inshoring of jobs to robots and tokens, threatening white-collar work as globalisation offshored blue-collar work, and that because each successive tech wave has reached more computers the effects will be felt more…",
      "date": "2026-09-13",
      "url": "https://behindthebalancesheet.substack.com/p/when-the-numbers-dont-add-up",
      "linkVerified": true,
      "storyUrl": "https://deepstack.ltd/stories/habit-was-the-moat/",
      "sidesUrl": "https://deepstack.ltd/sides/habit-was-the-moat/"
    }
  ],
  "coverage": null,
  "lastUpdated": "2026-10-22"
}