November 4, 2025 • 6 mins
LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
America’s newest boom isn’t in factories—it’s in data centers. But when the AI building frenzy ends, what’s left? In this episode:
-The truth about “Data Center USA” and why the boom can’t last forever
-How small towns are cashing in… and what happens when the money dries up
-The hidden cost of tax breaks and sweetheart deals for tech giants
-Why real economic growth means planning beyond the boom
-How communities can future-proof themselves through trades, robotics, and real jobs
The AI gold rush is happening now—but history shows every boom ends. What comes next will decide which towns survive… and which turn into the next Rust Belt.
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
America’s newest boom isn’t in factories—it’s in data centers. But when the AI building frenzy ends, what’s left? In this episode:
-The truth about “Data Center USA” and why the boom can’t last forever
-How small towns are cashing in… and what happens when the money dries up
-The hidden cost of tax breaks and sweetheart deals for tech giants
-Why real economic growth means planning beyond the boom
-How communities can future-proof themselves through trades, robotics, and real jobs
The AI gold rush is happening now—but history shows every boom ends. What comes next will decide which towns survive… and which turn into the next Rust Belt.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
What to make of Data Center USA? Two pretty interesting stories.
Nice find more of them out there as well about
what's going to happen. What's going to happen after the
data center boom is gone. It's not going to last forever.
Most certainly killing it right now. There was one in
(00:37):
the Wall Street Journal, one in the New York Times,
which I found fascinating, and they're highlighting areas of the
country data centers right now. Most data centers earned about
one percent of the counties around the country, so they're concentrated.
They like them that way, it's easier for information to
move between data centers. To talk a little about the
(01:00):
story they were They were talking about day in Oregon
and this this data center area there and the boom
that they have seen in their town. Say, one of
the main things that was in that town was a
bloody chemical weapons depot where they kept saren gas. I
thought that stuff was illegal anyway, neither here nor there.
(01:21):
They're booming right now. They are booming the need for
electricians and contractors and also things to build out these
data centers, and they're going to be building for some time.
The concern, the concern that many are asking a little
bit more so in the New York Times article rather
(01:43):
than the Wall Street Journal, Well, what happens after the
buildout is completed? Who works inside these data centers? How
many people do these data centers actually employ? Not many?
Not many? Security. Yeah, I have a lot of security,
and you're obviously gonna have some people that have got
(02:04):
to be able to fix things from time to time,
but not that many. And again it's also almost like
again a lot of these reporters, they failed to take
a look at what happens, what has happened throughout history.
First and foremost, this applies to business, This applies to communities.
(02:29):
If you're not growing, you're dying, just the way it is.
If you're not growing, you're dying. I am I'm from
Upstate New York. It's where I grew up, Upstate New York.
And you could think about the amount of business boom
towns all along the Mohawk River, even all the way
(02:56):
up pasted up and through Lake Champlain. All of these
waterways had the Erie Canal which brought goods to the
Great Lakes, which could then bring goods to Chicago and
stopping on these various different spots along the way. Many
of these places now it's pretty darn depressed. People talk
(03:21):
about the rust Belt and communities and towns that used
to be doing things that are no longer. How to
go about preventing things like happening in these new boom
towns with data centers. Well, one of the major areas
is up in northern Virginia. Okay, they're close to Washington,
(03:41):
d C. So their money is flowing there all the time.
I'm sure they're going to be just fine and figure
something out, but you have to be abreast of this
and hopefully you get community leaders there that are aware
that this building boom is going to end and you
might want to be looking for the next thing. Now. Again,
(04:06):
this area in particular when we were talking about in Oregon,
so he's been a rural community and you know from
the the interviews that they did, the people like it
that way. They like it being a small town. Again,
a lot of housing going up right now, real estate
agents are doing very well. But what is going to
(04:26):
come next? Again, If you're not growing, you're dying. And
this is what happens to communities if they don't stay
ahead of things, if they don't remain competitive. What comes
after the data centers when they go away again? Nothing new,
nothing new? Okay, you just have to everyone needs to understand. Okay,
(04:51):
this is great. Okay, there's a lot of money to
be made during the build out. Once these things are
built out, not as much. Then what then, what's next?
And that's how everything should be. Business owner, run a business.
What's next? What's coming down the pike? What changes are
(05:15):
going to take place? How can we stay ahead of this? Again,
that's what good leadership does, and this is how this
needs to be handled. Hopefully, Okay, all of the gains
and the money that these communities are making, and obviously
they're reaping obviously a lot more when it comes to
property taxes, Hopefully they're not getting too going crazy with
(05:36):
hiring way too many government workers because these data centers,
quite frankly, they oftentimes they pay a viig They don't
pay full property taxes like everybody else does. Those are
the deals that they cut. Sometimes you make a one
time payment, sometimes it's an ongoing payment, but it's not
nearly what everyone else is paying. Don't blow that money
(05:58):
on stupidity. Don't some of the areas you actually see
they're doing a good job, trying to train kids in
high school, various different trades, robotics, something that's going to
be coming down the pike. Stick with that. Stick with that.
Don't blow money. Like the folks in Washington, DC. You
want to keep your community fault. You want to keep
(06:20):
it solid after the AI building boom is gone. Do that.
Watchdog on wallstreet dot Com
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
What to make of Data Center USA? Two pretty interesting stories.
Nice find more of them out there as well about
what's going to happen. What's going to happen after the
data center boom is gone. It's not going to last forever.
Most certainly killing it right now. There was one in
(00:37):
the Wall Street Journal, one in the New York Times,
which I found fascinating, and they're highlighting areas of the
country data centers right now. Most data centers earned about
one percent of the counties around the country, so they're concentrated.
They like them that way, it's easier for information to
move between data centers. To talk a little about the
(01:00):
story they were They were talking about day in Oregon
and this this data center area there and the boom
that they have seen in their town. Say, one of
the main things that was in that town was a
bloody chemical weapons depot where they kept saren gas. I
thought that stuff was illegal anyway, neither here nor there.
(01:21):
They're booming right now. They are booming the need for
electricians and contractors and also things to build out these
data centers, and they're going to be building for some time.
The concern, the concern that many are asking a little
bit more so in the New York Times article rather
(01:43):
than the Wall Street Journal, Well, what happens after the
buildout is completed? Who works inside these data centers? How
many people do these data centers actually employ? Not many?
Not many? Security. Yeah, I have a lot of security,
and you're obviously gonna have some people that have got
(02:04):
to be able to fix things from time to time,
but not that many. And again it's also almost like
again a lot of these reporters, they failed to take
a look at what happens, what has happened throughout history.
First and foremost, this applies to business, This applies to communities.
(02:29):
If you're not growing, you're dying, just the way it is.
If you're not growing, you're dying. I am I'm from
Upstate New York. It's where I grew up, Upstate New York.
And you could think about the amount of business boom
towns all along the Mohawk River, even all the way
(02:56):
up pasted up and through Lake Champlain. All of these
waterways had the Erie Canal which brought goods to the
Great Lakes, which could then bring goods to Chicago and
stopping on these various different spots along the way. Many
of these places now it's pretty darn depressed. People talk
(03:21):
about the rust Belt and communities and towns that used
to be doing things that are no longer. How to
go about preventing things like happening in these new boom
towns with data centers. Well, one of the major areas
is up in northern Virginia. Okay, they're close to Washington,
(03:41):
d C. So their money is flowing there all the time.
I'm sure they're going to be just fine and figure
something out, but you have to be abreast of this
and hopefully you get community leaders there that are aware
that this building boom is going to end and you
might want to be looking for the next thing. Now. Again,
(04:06):
this area in particular when we were talking about in Oregon,
so he's been a rural community and you know from
the the interviews that they did, the people like it
that way. They like it being a small town. Again,
a lot of housing going up right now, real estate
agents are doing very well. But what is going to
(04:26):
come next? Again, If you're not growing, you're dying. And
this is what happens to communities if they don't stay
ahead of things, if they don't remain competitive. What comes
after the data centers when they go away again? Nothing new,
nothing new? Okay, you just have to everyone needs to understand. Okay,
(04:51):
this is great. Okay, there's a lot of money to
be made during the build out. Once these things are
built out, not as much. Then what then, what's next?
And that's how everything should be. Business owner, run a business.
What's next? What's coming down the pike? What changes are
(05:15):
going to take place? How can we stay ahead of this? Again,
that's what good leadership does, and this is how this
needs to be handled. Hopefully, Okay, all of the gains
and the money that these communities are making, and obviously
they're reaping obviously a lot more when it comes to
property taxes, Hopefully they're not getting too going crazy with
(05:36):
hiring way too many government workers because these data centers,
quite frankly, they oftentimes they pay a viig They don't
pay full property taxes like everybody else does. Those are
the deals that they cut. Sometimes you make a one
time payment, sometimes it's an ongoing payment, but it's not
nearly what everyone else is paying. Don't blow that money
(05:58):
on stupidity. Don't some of the areas you actually see
they're doing a good job, trying to train kids in
high school, various different trades, robotics, something that's going to
be coming down the pike. Stick with that. Stick with that.
Don't blow money. Like the folks in Washington, DC. You
want to keep your community fault. You want to keep
(06:20):
it solid after the AI building boom is gone. Do that.
Watchdog on wallstreet dot Com
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