Bloomberg Surveillance · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Robert Kaplan, former President of the Dallas Fed, shared his views on the current economy, describing it as 'okay, not great, somewhat sluggish' outside of AI-related infrastructure. He noted that while AI adoption could be disinflationary long-term, current inflationary pressures stem from AI infrastructure build, tariffs, labor constraints, and oil price spikes. Kaplan suggested the Fed should remain patient and avoid rigid predetermination in its policy decisions.
“What I'm seeing in the economy if it's associated with the AI Infrastructure build or AI adoption, then it's strong. What I hear from a number of companies who are more tied to housing autos the strength of the low modern income consumer. I would say they describe the economy as okay, not great, somewhat sluggish, and so in that regard, the job market report kind of was in line with that.”
“The AI infrastructure build is probably inflationary, and you've got tariffs, labor constraints, oil spike that exacerbate that. On the other hand, AI adoption should all ultimately be disinflationary. Chinese over capacity should be disinflationary.”
“I think what I would be doing in my former seat is I would not have raised rates in July. I think they made absolutely the right decision. I probably wouldn't have cut in December either, by the way that last cut I would not have done. And I would be keeping an open mind between now and September.”