Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh declares global investment surge is reversing decades of savings gluts

For years, economists wrung their hands over a world drowning in savings with nowhere productive to go. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh says that era is over, and something very different has taken its place. Speaking at the G20 finance ministers’ meeting on August 31, 2026, Warsh described the current moment as a “global investment surge,” a deliberate contrast to the “global saving glut” narrative that dominated economic thinking after 2008. The numbers behind the narrative Warsh laid the groundwork for this framing a few days earlier at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on August 28, where he offered a data-heavy case for the shift. Business capital expenditures have grown by approximately 9% over the last four quarters, the fastest clip since 2021. More than half of the recent capex growth traces back to artificial intelligence infrastructure, including chips, data centers, and related buildout. S&P 500 firm profits grew by over 20% in the past year, buoyed by high margins and low market volatility, according to Warsh’s analysis at Jackson Hole. Annualized token sales for leading AI models have surged past $100 billion, reflecting a 500% year-over-year increase. ...