“So what we're saying is, oh, we'd have a recession if we stopped building them today. And so let's keep building them today. And the next year or the year after when we realize there's no demand, then we'll have the recession. That doesn't make sense.”
The Tech Report · October 2026
The economist answers the argument that blocking data center construction would tip the economy into recession. In his view, building capacity nobody needs only pushes the downturn back.
Transcript
…can manage orders, sync inventory, track returns, all automatically. Everything your operation needs, all in one place. Upgrade your shipping operations to stress-proof your biggest sales days and capture every bit of potential revenue. Go to shipstation.com and use code audio and get 30 days free.
You know that feeling when too many things fall through the cracks? Monday.com was built for that gap. The AI work platform where people and agents work side by side to deliver more together. Create your first Monday agent today at Monday.com.
I don't see that. So what we're saying is, oh, we'd have a recession if we stopped building them today. And so let's keep building them today. And the next year or the year after when we realize there's no demand, then we'll have the recession. That doesn't make sense. Now, clearly, data centers have a big environmental impact. Does that mean you don't want to build them? Well, you want to try and limit them. You want to make sure we actually need them. I mean, we all understand. I'd love to go back to the 19th century where we had no cars. And there are lots of nice things you could say about the environment in the 19th century. On the other hand, do I want…
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And they said, oh, we can't do it because environmental. That's convenient for them. So let's say, you know, the folks at Microsoft are going, you know, there's probably not demand for this. Maybe we don't want to build it. So rather than getting up and saying, oh, there's not demand. So it's much…
Allegedly, I should probably say allegedly for legal purposes on that one. Allegedly.
More from The Tech Report
