This just isn't true. Giant numbers of small companies out there doing just fine.

It's only if you need investment that it's hard, because the government sets a floor on what you should expect on a return with the bond market. So a business taking money has to promise a return greater than what the government will just give you.

A large enough simultaneous spike to reset expectations though, and all the sudden investor expectations switch to ‘lose the least money’.

Notably, the ones who expect/require this up and to the right are generally things like mutual funds, pension funds, and other institutional investors.

You know, the ones who Grandma (or Mom) relies on to not be eating dogfood in retirement.

Also Billionaires.