How AI Spending Is Fueling the Economy Overall episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 9, 2026 · 35 MIN

How AI Spending Is Fueling the Economy Overall

from WSJ's Take On the Week · host The Wall Street Journal

In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Miriam Gottfried and Telis Demos dig into the shifting sentiment away from AI stocks and the pivot into consumer sectors. Are we heading into a new business-led economy, or will it continue to be a consumer-led economy?  Before that, the hosts analyze the fallout from SpaceX earnings report and break down the evolving appetite for potential future IPOs for companies like OpenAI or Anthropic. They also set the stage for earnings reports coming out later this month from companies like Home Depot, Target and Lowe’s.  Plus, Wells Fargo’s Chief Equity Strategist Ohsung Kwon joins the show to break down the massive, overlooked impact of tariff refunds on consumer staples earnings. He also explains why the cycle of capital expenditures in AI is acting as a vital engine for the broader U.S. economy, and why AI job replacement fears may be significantly overstated. This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Telis Demos, writer for WSJ’s Heard on the Street, and Miriam Gottfried, WSJ’s investing and wealth management reporter, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at [email protected]. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Wall Street Thinks It Knows How Tech Giants Will Make AI Pay   SpaceX Needs to Make Its Bigger Rockets Work   For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Follow Miriam Gottfried here and Telis Demos here.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 9, 2026

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How AI Spending Is Fueling the Economy Overall

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