Will the data centre “boom” make us better off?

Profits are surging and living standards are not. Will the AI boom be any different?

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Angus discuss the carve-out for Queensland and Northern Territory data centres that’ll allow them to run off coal and gas, the skyrocketing profits of some of Australia’s biggest companies, and the east coast vs west coast beef over GST revenue.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 27 August 2026.

More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia by Richard Denniss, the latest Vantage Point essay from Australia Institute Press, is available now.

Use the code ‘FOOLME’ on a four-edition Vantage Point subscription to receive a free copy of Richard’s book, Econobabble.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute // @grogsgamut

Host: Angus Blackman, Executive Producer, the Australia Institute // @AngusRB

Show notes:

What will we get out of the AI boom? The data suggests lots of noisy, energy-hungry datacentres and not much else by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (August 2026)

What do they mean by "energy agnostic?" by Fiona Katauskas, The Point (August 2026)

Wages are not to blame for rising inflation by David Richardson, Greg Jericho & Matt Saunders, the Australia Institute (February 2026)

Australia’s gas giveaway, the Australia Institute

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au. Subscribe to Dollars & Sense on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

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