From Sports to AI, America is awash in speculative fever. Washington is egging it on.

WALL STREET JOURNAL

Today’s artificial-intelligence centered boom (or, if you prefer, bubble) has a lot in common with its predecessors, such as leveraged buyouts in the 1980s, dot-com stocks in the 1990s, and housing in the 2000s: stocks at nosebleed valuations, easy credit for risky borrowers, faddish new financial products.

But something about it feels different. The speculative fever has spread well beyond the usual stocks, bonds and property. Crypto, a brand new asset class, is now valued at some $4 trillion. Americans bet $150 billion on sports last year, up 24% from 2023, according to the American Gaming Association. Gold, a hedge against bubbles, is looking bubbly itself. Speculation has become woven into today’s political, economic and cultural psyche.

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