AI Investment, Productivity Growth, and the Economics of the AI Transition with Jessica Wachter

The discussion topics will include:

• How much productivity growth is needed for the AI investment math to work • Whether that level of productivity growth has occurred before
• Historical precedent for current levels of AI capital expenditure spending
• The paper’s boom models and the projected implications for interest rates
• What happens if productivity growth falls short of the levels implied by current investment trends

Guest Bio:

Jessica Wachter is the Dr. Bruce I. Jacobs Professor of Quantitative Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. From 2021 to 2025, she served as Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Her research focuses on asset pricing, macroeconomics, financial markets, and the economic implications of technological change.