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Will AI be an economic net positive? Probably not
It’s hard to see how AI’s effects will cure the US government’s unsustainable fiscal trajectory
Published Tue, Nov 18, 2025 · 03:33 PM
THE boom in artificial-intelligence (AI) investment is undoubtedly boosting both the US stock market and the broader economy right now. But what about the longer term? Will AI be a big net positive, delivering prosperity and solving the nation’s fiscal problems?
Most likely, I’m sorry to say, it’ll be closer to a wash.
To assess AI’s longer-run implications for the economic outlook, one must consider three questions:
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