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The AI Bubble Bursting Would Actually Be Incredible for the Economy, Economist Says
Futurism ^ | Sep 19, 2025 | Joe Wilkins

Posted on 09/22/2025 5:43:47 PM PDT by anthropocene_x

The US economy is absolutely screaming. Late rent payments and loan delinquencies are skyrocketing, and the top 10 percent of earners account for nearly half of all consumer spending. In early September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the nation added over 900,000 fewer jobs than previously thought from March 2024 to 2025.

Yet, as bad as things might feel for common folk, financial markets have never looked better — the tech-dominated Nasdaq continues to reach record highs, and the country’s GDP has grown by more than 50 percent since 2020.

The catch here is that this growth is largely due to a tiny handful of tech companies and their investor’s lurid dreams of an AI-powered economic revolution, the likes of which the world has never seen.

However, there might be a bright side: one macroeconomic researcher, Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says a bursting bubble might be just what we need to get things back on track.

In a summary of the situation, Baker agrees with the school of thought that says we’re in an AI spending bubble, and that there are some nasty consequences — a recession, most likely — awaiting us when the music stops.

However bad that economic downturn might be, though, Baker says it will open the door for a potential recovery that makes life better for working people.

(Excerpt) Read more at futurism.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: economy; jobs
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1 posted on 09/22/2025 5:43:47 PM PDT by anthropocene_x
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To: anthropocene_x

“This time it is different.”


2 posted on 09/22/2025 5:48:35 PM PDT by posterchild
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To: posterchild

We never learn...


3 posted on 09/22/2025 5:52:14 PM PDT by Openurmind (AI - An Illusion for Aptitude Intrusion to Alter Intellect. )
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To: anthropocene_x

Doomsayers in panic!


4 posted on 09/22/2025 6:03:20 PM PDT by OrangeHoof (Thank you, Trump, Musk, Leavitt....)
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To: anthropocene_x

AI is so much smarter than mere mortals, AI will make sure AI stocks rise above gravitational field and will orbit the earth for ever.

No need for /S tag.


5 posted on 09/22/2025 6:06:28 PM PDT by Bobbyvotes (Work is worship! .... Bhagavad Geeta. )
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To: Bobbyvotes

My money is in the S & P 500. Safe?


6 posted on 09/22/2025 6:06:55 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: anthropocene_x

Aside from porn and financial speculation, what good is it for normal folks?
Its always been for military and keeping the elites kids employed


7 posted on 09/22/2025 6:07:10 PM PDT by SavannahWonderer (First do no harm)
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To: anthropocene_x
I love how they lump 10 months of Biden’s term in with Trump’s 2 months in office. The 900,000 fake jobs numbers occurred under Biden.

The “expert” also cleverly claims that AI will make lives more comfortable for working ppl. Yeah, but how many ppl will still be working after AI is fully implemented?

8 posted on 09/22/2025 6:09:02 PM PDT by Prince of Space (I hate the media!)
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To: anthropocene_x
... Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says a bursting bubble might be just what we need to get things back on track.

No, no, no. Not until I cash out!

My brother-in-law recently asked me what AI stocks to invest in. I told him the time to do so was 5 years ago. There are a lot of newbies jumping into buying AI stocks at the high. Good luck. If a bubble bursts, I've made enough to quickly exit - although I don't think there will be a "bubble burst". AI interest will continue to grow, although there'll be a shakeout of losers.

9 posted on 09/22/2025 6:11:27 PM PDT by roadcat ( )
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To: Prince of Space
Yeah, but how many ppl will still be working after AI is fully implemented?

Don't know. But I wonder if Help Desks run by AI will give you the option of listening to an India accent?

10 posted on 09/22/2025 6:15:26 PM PDT by roadcat ( )
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To: anthropocene_x

I have a bushel of Tulip Bulbs for sale.


11 posted on 09/22/2025 6:19:14 PM PDT by spokeshave (Proud Boys, Angry Dads. Grumpy Grandads & Curmudgeons)
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To: anthropocene_x

I asked Grok and Grok says smooth sailing ahead...

The “bubble” framing oversimplifies things. AI isn’t one market—it’s a tech stack with diverse applications. Parts (like speculative startups) may crash, but foundational players (e.g., chipmakers, cloud providers) are more resilient. A correction might hit by 2028 if economic conditions tighten or tech stalls, but a total “burst” like the dot-com crash seems unlikely given AI’s real-world traction.


12 posted on 09/22/2025 6:19:53 PM PDT by HYPOCRACY (Wake up, smell the cat food in your bank account. )
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To: HYPOCRACY
The “bubble” framing oversimplifies things. AI isn’t one market—it’s a tech stack with diverse applications.

I agree. In the early 1900s when automobiles replaced horses and bicycles, there was an explosion of growth of automobile companies, many of which went out of business or merged. Was that a bubble burst? Although only a handful of companies survived, the automobile spawned thousands of support businesses.

Same thing with the personal computer boom of the 1970s. Although the "bubble" burst for many PC builders, it spawned thousands of support businesses.

A total "burst" of AI is unlikely, and thousands of new jobs will be created.

13 posted on 09/22/2025 6:30:45 PM PDT by roadcat ( )
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To: DIRTYSECRET
My money is in the S & P 500. Safe?

That's a safe bet if you have 15 years time and the emotional capacity to ride out the big dips, but you might put a trailing stop loss sell order on it now so you automatically bail out unemotionally. A spring loaded stop loss is your friend. Like the rising sun, a correction is coming, just nobody knows when or how big. P/E ratios are high.

14 posted on 09/22/2025 6:45:16 PM PDT by Reeses
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To: anthropocene_x
…the country’s GDP has grown by more than 50 percent since 2020.

Government spending at ALL levels IS a component of GDP the calculation. Irrespective of an improved economy, all government spending is up.

15 posted on 09/22/2025 7:00:13 PM PDT by Sgt_Schultze (When your business model depends on slave labor, you're always going to need more slaves.)
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To: anthropocene_x

The music will stop in the first rolling blackout, where the government decides power consumption for AI and data centers has higher priority than for ordinary civilians.


16 posted on 09/22/2025 7:03:08 PM PDT by fruser1
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To: anthropocene_x
Large language models scrape the internet, use limiting algorithms to compile “text,” and various “AI” programs have become racist, misogynistic, antisemitic, driven AU cars off the road, counseled the susceptible to commit suicide, and most recently one declared itself a failure. GIGO remains GIGO.

The ONLY measure of this marketed "artificial intelligence" is that someone is fooled by it. Turing and Searle and more tell this.

Previously, this stuff was called snake oil. And it is the stuff of politics over millennia.

17 posted on 09/22/2025 7:52:47 PM PDT by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
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To: Worldtraveler once upon a time

Most disturbing thing is some vulnerable youngsters shaped by the covid scare consider an AI agent their closest friend or even romantic partner. So creepy and dangerous.


18 posted on 09/22/2025 8:04:29 PM PDT by AndyTheBear (Certified smarter than average for my species)
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To: anthropocene_x

The AI bubble is small potatoes. The only thing that will bring it into balance is the end of mortgages issued on BS real estate valuations.


19 posted on 09/22/2025 8:06:39 PM PDT by bakeneko
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To: anthropocene_x
This economist thinks a recession would be good because it would lead to more government giveaways. What a trash article.

Another strategy to increase the “ordinary worker” flow after a recession would be to increase government spending on social programs like healthcare, education, and childcare, giving workers room to breathe and spend their wages.

20 posted on 09/22/2025 8:07:49 PM PDT by Wayne07
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