AI-related high-tech CAPEX growing 20% quarterly, sustaining manufacturing momentum.

In the AI related category of high-tech equipment and software The most recent data shows four quarter growth rates of nearly 20 percent This is helping to sustain the healthy momentum of manufacturing output More generally CAPEX is preparing the ground for future growth Nonetheless the precise timing and magnitude of effects on the supply side remain hard to predict FOMC meetings produce policy decisions But just as important Is candid discussion of the big things that matter most That too is a priority in this new chapter at the Fed In our meeting vigorous discussions centered on four questions, which I will enumerate First We talked a lot about the implications of the past five years of high inflation on the current policy conjuncture To an act to echo an old phrase has the past really passed Second My colleagues and I considered the economic shocks of recent years strain supply chains arising from the pandemic military conflicts energy supply disruptions substantial increases in terafrites and yes the surge in AI-related investment.