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ES Elizabeth Schulze On Start Here

“Half of all of the growth in the economy for the most recent quarter was business investment. And what that means is spending on AI. Data centers, the build-out of whatever the infrastructure is needed to power cloud and AI computing. That is showing up very clearly in the data… Of course, the concern is this is so much money that's being invested. Is that an investment that's ultimately going to pay off?”

Start Here · Policy · October 2026

“Half of all of the growth in the economy for the most recent quarter was business investment. And what that means is spending on AI. Data centers, the build-out of whatever the infrastructure is needed to power cloud and AI computing. That is showing up very clearly in the data… Of course, the concern is this is so much money that's being invested. Is that an investment that's ultimately going to pay off?” — Elizabeth Schulze, Start Here

Context

Brad Mielke asked why GDP numbers look strong when everyone says the economy is bad. Schulze, ABC's business and economics reporter, gives AI spending as one of two main reasons, and leaves the bubble question open.

Listen to the episode → More from Elizabeth Schulze → More Policy quotes →

Transcript

Start Here Around 22:48 into the episode
Speaker 1

More money is sloshing around in the economy. But also part of that is because prices are higher.

Speaker 3

Something needs to change. This gas at the price it is. You know, you walk in a grocery, you're trying to take care of your family.

Speaker 1

…that means is spending on AI. Data centers, the build out of, you know, whatever the kind of infrastructure is needed to power cloud and AI computing. That is showing up very clearly in the data. And that is keeping, that is giving a boost to the broader kind of economic picture. And that's a good thing. When you've got companies spending in the economy, you want to see businesses investing. Of course, the concern is this is so much money that's being invested. Is that an investment that's ultimately going to pay off? Wish I had the answer to that. I'd be probably a lot richer than I am right now. There's a big debate about a bubble on Wall Street that is not mine to decide.

Brad Mielke

Right. But in the meantime, though, I do think it's helpful. Like we hear like GDP is up more than expected. That sounds great, but there are so many caveats here. Elizabeth Schulze, thank you so much.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Brad.

Brad Mielke

Okay, one more quick break. When we come back, while we're talking about rising oil prices, around the world in 80 grand barely begins to cover it. One last thing is next. Today, I want to tell you about our friends at Layla Sleep. When you work nighttimes, producing a daily morning news podcast…

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

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