Kevin Hassett says AI’s economic payoff is bigger than the data shows

The White House’s top economic adviser thinks the official numbers are missing something, and that something is artificial intelligence. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett argues that AI’s economic benefits may be larger than current statistics capture. He is betting that hidden productivity can help the US grow its way out of a debt problem that keeps getting heavier. Speaking to the Economic Club of New York on September 28, 2026, Hassett laid out an outlook that sits well above most forecasts. His case leans on a historical comparison: the early internet era, when gains from better computing were hard to see in government data. The 4% pitch Hassett projected a baseline GDP growth rate of around 4%, assuming no external shocks. That beats the administration’s own 3% target. It also clears private-sector forecasts by a wide margin. Those estimates hover around 2%, roughly half of what Hassett sees. His evidence centers on companies that have adopted AI. According to Hassett, those firms are seeing significant increases in sales, employment, and wages compared with businesses that have not. That last point matters. The dominant public fear about AI is that it eliminat...