DAVID SOLOMON

The Goldman Sachs CEO on the economy, jobs, and bubbles

- BY AYESHA JAVED

What are your expectations for the economy in the year ahead? There are a handful of structural tailwinds that we’ve experienced for a portion of 2025 that set [us] up into 2026. First, the U.S. is running a pretty aggressive fiscal play, and the big bill that was passed during the summer has a bunch of fiscally stimulative actions that take effect in 2026. Second, the ramp-up in capital spending around AI infrastructure is continuing at a pace that’s having a real impact on GDP growth. In 2025 it accounted for over a percent of GDP. The four largest hyperscalers spent up to $400 billion and that’s going to continue in 2026, and that creates a good tailwind.

This Administration is certainly trying to swing the pendulum around regulatory activity, around business. We have been in an interest-rate-cutting cycle. You can hear in the Administration’s narrative, there’s a bit of a pivot to a focus on affordability as they head into the midterm elections. You’re seeing that in some backing off on some of the tariff policies, and in some fiscal support, like the farm aid [package].