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... as hundreds of billions of dollars are flooding into artificial intelligence, there are serious concerns that an AI bubble could trigger another bailout with taxpayer money.

In the interview that follows, leading progressive economist Gerald Epstein, who initiated and directs the Game Changers project at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, talks about AI’s impact on finance and the bailout problem and how a transformative public finance strategy can revive democracy, promote equity and social justice, and build strong and sustainable communities.

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[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 68 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yea but we already know that's what they're gonna do regardless of what anyone says.

Just like we already know things are eventually going to get bad enough that killing the epstien-billionare class becomes both moral and necessary.

[-] cheers_queers@lemmy.zip 27 points 1 month ago

i would argue that it is already the moral choice. they are killing the planet

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

How can we know either way without speaking freely about it? I think this is an important conversation we should all participate in. (Fully agree with you btw)

[-] cheers_queers@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 month ago

we are talking about it right now :) that means we arent the only ones.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 month ago

I can feel the class consciousness forming. Can you feel it?

[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Yea but we already know that’s what they’re gonna do

We can change who "they" are though, and this is our best chance since FDR.

It's not enough to have a progressive president, we need a progressive Congress behind them. But we absolutely can refuse to bail AI bris out and strip the rest of the oligarchs of their wealth.

People acting like we can't just depresses turnout.

Republicans won't, neoliberals won't, but if you act like those are the only two options...

You're just fucking wrong

[-] OwOarchist@pawb.social 6 points 1 month ago

I do think you're a bit naive about it, though. They won't let this happen with just a simple vote. They will defend their positions of power with violence.

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[-] Salvo@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago

The more this gets stated and reinforced, the more likely that people will wake up, stop investing in slop and liquidate their existing investments.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

We shot one corrupt CEO and for a whole glorious month Americans almost had healthcare.

[-] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 51 points 1 month ago

There's no industry the US government won't bail out, because the US government is corporate sponsored.

We bail out banks.

We bail out farmers.

We bail out military contractors.

... and on and on and on.

Because they "donate" to bOtH pArTiEs, and they expect a return. They don't do this out of charity.

[-] artyom@piefed.social 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I think it's worth adding that those companies intentionally run shit into the ground, taking the global economy with them, because they know the gov will ball them out.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 7 points 1 month ago

Aha! the solution is for citizens to become industry. Then they can bail us out.

[-] PattyMcB@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago
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[-] cardboardboxfort@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Bailing is the agricultural process of cutting, drying, gathering, compressing and tying up of forage crops into compact, manageable bundles for easy storage and transport.

Therefore, I am all for bailing the CEO's out of AI companies. We can all lend a hand in cutting them down, drying them, gathering them, tying them up and compressing them into manageable bundles for easy storage or... whatever... toss them into a volcano?

[-] DigDoug@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

cutting them down, drying them, gathering them, tying them up and compressing them into manageable bundles

Sounds like a recipe for jerky. Eat the rich.

[-] cardboardboxfort@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Artisanal hand-crafted AI billionaire jerky.

[-] Slowy@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago
[-] dellish@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago

Didn't the House denounce Socialism in ALL FORMS earlier this week? Therefore bailouts are no longer possible, right?

Oh, I forgot the rules don't apply to rich people. Silly me.

[-] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

Socialism wouldn't just bail out an industry.

[-] minorkeys@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

They forced this nation to take massive risks for their personal benefit. These people should be in prison and their companies and assets seized.

[-] Zannsolo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

The world tbh

[-] credo@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

That’s not how our system works.

Socialism for the rich, bootstraps for the rest.

[-] flandish@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

to be fair, we should not bail out ANY industry. if you fail at capitalism so bad you need a bailout- tough shit.

[-] rethnor@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago

Bailout people, not companies

[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

I feel like that depends on the industry and context. For example if say most of a specific industry is based in one or two areas and gets devastated by a natural disaster then fine. But if it's just economic failure then they should be taken private with either the states or the feds getting controlling shares.

[-] flandish@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

state control is actually “public” or “nationalized” right? - not to be confused with “publicly traded” which is not the same as “the public runs the business” (as it would if a state ran it, being comprised of the public)

[-] itsprobablyfine@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Yeah every bailout should mean public ownership. It's the taxpayers buying the company.

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[-] BigMacHole@thelemmy.club 9 points 1 month ago

Socialism is TERRIBLE! That's why ONLY Rich people get to Partake in It!

[-] PattyMcB@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Uhh.... billionaires asking for bailouts is peak failed capitalism.

[-] rethnor@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 month ago

First time through bailouts and economic crash?

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Too late. It's already baked in through the insurance industry reinsurance mechanisms.

[-] kungen@feddit.nu 4 points 1 month ago

And in all your index funds, retirement funds, etc.

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[-] SoupBrick@pawb.social 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The worst part is that any bail out would only be enough funding for a few months with the rate they are burning money at compared to their CURRENT revenue.

[-] bss03@infosec.pub 5 points 1 month ago

Bwahaha. Taxpayers will definitely bail out this industry, especially if the crash happens during this administration. That will be true whether or not be force some level of public ownership to reap any rewards that might accrue.

[-] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

You can't get skynet without giving all the taxpayer money to skynet. You don't have to call it a bailout. Just give them all our money for tokens so they don't need a bailout.

[-] teelin134@programming.dev 4 points 1 month ago

Too bad, they already figured out a way to make it happen.

[-] RelativeArea1@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

they've already made some of these companies publicly traded or somewhat public by linking it with publicly traded companies so it could tap into the "most safe investment" aka index funds and now they're tapping it onto peoples taxes? smh

[-] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Bad news: we will be.

Some people are looking forward to the crash because they think these oligarchs are going to have some kind of comeuppance. To that I say: lolololol

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[-] WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago

Americans don’t care.

They’ll roll over and do nothing.

Watch.

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[-] stylusmobilus@aussie.zone 2 points 1 month ago

Those taxpayers will bail these executives out and they’ll shut up about it.

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this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2026
388 points (99.0% liked)

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