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AI capex is so big that it's affecting economic statistics

(paulkedrosky.com)
337 points throw0101c | 9 comments | 18 Jul 25 19:59 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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jonas21 ◴[18 Jul 25 21:09 UTC] No.44609857[source]▶
I don't know... 1.2% of GDP just doesn't seem that extreme to me. Certainly nowhere near "eating the economy" level compared to other transformative technologies or programs like:

- Apollo program: 4%

- Railroads: 6% (mentioned by the author)

- Covid stimulus: 27%

- WW2 defense: 40%

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raincole ◴[18 Jul 25 21:18 UTC] No.44609942[source]▶
Yeah that's my first reaction to. 1.2% doesn't sound much. It's just people making headlines out of thin air. If it lists the water and energy consumption I might be more concerned.

Slightly off-topic, but ~9% of GDP is generated by "financial services" in the US. Personally I think it's a more alarming data point.

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linotype ◴[18 Jul 25 21:25 UTC] No.44610013[source]▶
https://youtu.be/HA1YKg_OLBw

Financial services makes the unrealistic consumption of rich countries possible. That’s worth 9%.

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1. anticorporate ◴[18 Jul 25 21:31 UTC] No.44610067[source]▶
Wait, so we could end unrealistic consumption in rich countries and get 9% of our economy back to doing something useful? Sounds like a win-win.
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2. rogerrogerr ◴[18 Jul 25 21:34 UTC] No.44610080[source]▶
Yes, and you could go back to agrarian life too! Win-win-win!

The finance industry's ability to teleport value across time and space is a massive boon for quality of life across the world.

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3. lukas099 ◴[18 Jul 25 21:39 UTC] No.44610115[source]▶
The economy is not a fixed pie that you can just take slices from one sector and give them to another. Financial services provide liquidity that supports every other sector; getting rid of them would cause contraction in every other sector.
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4. goda90 ◴[18 Jul 25 21:49 UTC] No.44610186[source]▶
I can't help but wonder if there's a middle ground between people not being able to obtain credit to pursue new enterprises, and entire productive enterprises being swallowed up in the pursuit of short-term rent seeking.
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5. Ntrails ◴[18 Jul 25 21:54 UTC] No.44610236{3}[source]▶
Could such a middle ground exist? Sure. Could someone design a system where that middle ground was a natural equilibrium? Unsure. I don't see how you incentivise the goldilocks behaviour (but I am not the smartest bear so maybe someone else can)
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6. wizzwizz4 ◴[18 Jul 25 22:38 UTC] No.44610558{4}[source]▶
There's a good book on this topic by a Scottish philosopher: An Inquiry into the Nature and Cauſes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, LL. D. and F. R. S, formerly Profeſſor of Moral Philoſophy in the Univerſity of Glasgow.
7. puchatek ◴[18 Jul 25 22:40 UTC] No.44610575[source]▶
That's true to a degree. But giving them free reign inventivizes the kind of behavior that gave us the 2008 financial crisis. So the commenter can be forgiven for wanting to limit that sector.
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8. airstrike ◴[19 Jul 25 00:08 UTC] No.44611249{3}[source]▶
They don't have "free reign". And who's to say whether 9% is better or worse for society as a whole.

The comment is an uninformed take.

9. tjwebbnorfolk ◴[19 Jul 25 01:48 UTC] No.44611819[source]▶
Yes it's like magic! Let's "JUST STOP OIL" while we're at it. Oh and end world hunger too.