Episode
We Asked GMO’s Head of Asset Allocation Why This Bubble is Easy — But Investors Will Get it Wrong
- Podcast
- Excess Returns
- Published
- Jun 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4141
- Processing state
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Summary
Ben Inker of GMO joins Excess Returns to break down whether the AI boom is an investment bubble, how it compares to 2000, 2007 and 2021, and why today’s risk may be more about earnings than valuations. We also discuss AI capital spending, market supply from IPOs, GMO’s seven-year asset class forecasts, international stocks, benchmark-free allocation and what private equity investors may be missing. 7 YEAR ASSET CLASS FORECAST https://www.gmo.com/americas/research-library/gmo-7-year-asset-class-forecast-may-2026_gmo7yearassetclassforecast/ WHAT BARBARIANS LIKE TO TAKE PRIVATE https://www.gmo.com/americas/research-library/part-1-what-barbarians-like-to-take-private_gmoquarterlyletter/ THE CASE FOR LIQUID ALTERNATIVES https://www.gmo.com/americas/research-library/the-case-for-liquid-alternatives-in-todays-environment_insights/ Main topics covered Why GMO sees the AI boom as a bubble investors may be able to navigate The difference between easy bubbles and hard bubbles in portfolio construction Lessons from the internet bubble, the global financial crisis and the 2021 duration bubble Why today’s market may be an earnings bubble, not just a valuation bubble How AI data center spending affects corporate profits before depreciation shows up Why transformational technologies do not always reward the companies building them The risk of circular financing, debt-funded AI spending and increasingly creative deal structures How IPOs, share issuance and market supply can pressure stock returns GMO’s seven-year asset class forecasts and why international stocks look more attractive than U.S. stocks Why private equity portfolios may contain large hidden bets on small, lower-quality companies Timestamps 00:00 AI, earnings bubbles and market supply 00:58 Why Ben Inker thinks the AI bubb…