AI Is Making America Smarter, but Making Americans Poorer
When technology hides economic decline, prosperity becomes an illusion
The Illusion of Growth
On paper, the American economy still looks healthy. GDP is rising, the stock market is strong, and tech giants continue to post record profits. But research from Harvard economist Jason Furman reveals a darker truth. If you remove AI data center investments, U.S. GDP growth for the first half of 2025 drops to just 0.1 percent. Over the past five years, average growth was 2 percent – meaning the real economy has fallen back to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis. In other words, without the AI boom, America’s economy is nearly stagnant.
AI has become a false pillar of growth – a technological shell disguising structural weakness. Manufacturing, real estate, retail, and services are all flat or shrinking, while only data center construction continues to surge. AI-related investment accounts for just 4 percent of GDP …
