The Economy 2026: Bubble or Boom

Are we in an AI-driven financial bubble? New York Times financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, author of a new book on the 1929 stock market crash, thinks so. "I just can’t tell you when, and I can’t tell you how deep," he has said. "But I can assure you, unfortunately, I wish I wasn't saying this, we will have a crash.”

But other experts, notably Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, doesn’t think the AI boom is another dot-com bubble. “These companies … actually have business models and profits... So it’s really a different thing,” Powell said in October.

So what’s the average consumer and investor to do? In Commonwealth Club World Affairs’ annual economic forecast, our experts will go beyond the hype and doomsaying to break down what it all means for your bottom line.

Will the stock market continue to rally, or will there be a correction? How will tariff chaos and the immigration crackdown impact the economy? What can we expect with future interest rate cuts, and with President Trump’s efforts to influence the Fed?

We’ll take up those questions and much more with our expert panel.

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