Economists See AI Easing US Fiscal Gap as $40 Trillion Debt Still Climbs
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 18
Economists See AI Easing US Fiscal Gap as $40 Trillion Debt Still Climbs
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 18
Summary
A growing group of economists expects widespread AI adoption to improve the U.S. budget imbalance by lifting productivity, growth and tax revenue.
That fiscal boost depends on AI raising worker output without causing broad job losses, since the budget effect hinges largely on how the technology reshapes the labor market.
About $40 trillion in gross federal debt is still projected to keep rising, with economists saying AI would slow the deterioration rather than eliminate it.
Douglas Elmendorf, a former Congressional Budget Office director, said faster AI-driven productivity growth would help the budget problem but not solve it, especially if gains are lightly taxed or Congress offsets them with tax cuts or spending increases.