“If data center construction stops, the U.S. economy will fall into recession” ... BlackRock chairman issues strong warning

[Financial News]  Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, issued a strong warning that moves to halt data center construction could potentially trigger a recession across the U.S. economy.
In an interview with CNBC, a business news network, just after the release of third-quarter results on the 14th (local time), Fink said, “If measures to defer or halt data center construction in the U.S. are implemented, our economy will enter a recession.”
Referring to the massive capital investment needed to build AI infrastructure, he stressed that “a significant part of the U.S. economy is currently powered by these investments.” BlackRock shares were up around 1% during the trading session on the New York stock market that day.
Fink’s remarks came as data center construction emerged as a key issue in the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3, amid strong opposition from local communities. Residents and local governments in various areas are fiercely opposing data center sites, citing higher electricity bills, water consumption, environmental destruction and a lack of transparency around investment.
Fink countered concerns about expanding data centers, saying that “most of them are based on misinformation.”
He said, “Data centers are not the source of the problem; on the contrary, they are creating more jobs than ever. Thanks to large-scale investment, demand for construction workers has increased, and it has also generated broad economic spillover effects in fields ranging from digital infrastructure and AI computing hardware to energy infrastructure needed to secure power grids.”
Wall Street analysts in New York project that global AI-related capital investment will exceed $1 trillion (about 1,350 trillion won) in 2027 and reach a cumulative total of at least $5 trillion (about 6,750 trillion won) by 2030, focusing market attention on the outcome of this infrastructure conflict.
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