Data centers are preventing a US recession, NMSU economist says
An NMSU economist suggests that the construction and operation of data centers are currently offsetting weakness in the housing sector, preventing a U.S. recession. However, the growth of these facilities faces local opposition and potential legislative moratoriums due to environmental and cost concerns.
Why it matters
This highlights the tension between economic development driven by the tech sector and the local environmental/infrastructure strain caused by data centers.
Data centers are preventing the U.S. from falling into a recession, a New Mexico State University economic expert told KOAT on Saturday. "Data centers are keeping the economy growing at this point; they are the main drivers of the economy," said Chris Erickson, a professor of economics at NMSU. RELATED: Data centers become key issue in New Mexico governor’s race "Its investment in data centers has kept the economy buoyed up. The housing sector has been quite weak for a while. Usually when the housing sector is that weak, you can expect either slowdown or even a recession to follow that because construction is such an important source of jobs. But because the data centers have taken up all the slack in construction, that hasn't happened," Erickson explained.
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