Excess Returns · Friday, July 31, 2026
Ben Hunt states that the United States is set to spend as much on AI capital expenditure and data center build-outs as it did on World War II, adjusted for inflation. He projects that this AI CapEx will be a marginal driver of economic activity, contributing half of the projected 2% GDP growth in 2026.
“We're going to spend here in the US, as much money in inflation adjusted dollars on this AI CapX and data center build out. As we did on World War II.”
“Half of that GDP growth is coming from AI CapX.”
“I think we spent, again, inflation adjusted, money about somewhere between four and $5 trillion dollars to fight World War II.”