Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “Unintended Consequences offers deep and well-argued analyses on almost every issue.” - The New York Times
  • “…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “Unintended Consequences provides a provocative interpretation of the causes of the global financial crisis and the policies needed to return to rapid growth. Whether you agree or not, this analysis is well worth reading.” - Nouriel Roubini, New York University; Chairman, Roubini Global Economics
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
  • “Unintended Consequences represents the most cogent and persuasive analysis of the Financial Crisis to date.” - Andrei Shleifer, 1999 John Bates Clark Medal Winner
  • “Unintended Consequences is far smarter and more thought-provoking than most economics written for the general public” - Greg Mankiw, Harvard University, Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors
  • “…a fresh argument for the productive value of inequality.” - David Autor, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • “There are an amazing number of good ideas and interesting points made in Unintended Consequences. The thinking underlying it, and the obvious depth of understanding of the author, are very impressive.” - Steven Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics; 2004 John Bates Clark Medal
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AI Summary. Microsoft has walked away from new US and European data center projects totaling about 2 gigawatts of electricity capacity, which TD Cowen analysts attribute to an oversupply of computing capacity relative to current AI demand forecasts. Google and Meta picked up some of the freed European capacity, the analysts wrote.

Matt Day and Ryan Vlastelica Bloomberg
Date Posted:

Microsoft has walked away from new data center projects in the US and Europe that would have used the equivalent of 2 gigawatts of electricity. Microsoft remains on track to spend ~$80B building out data centers this fiscal year.

Is data center capacity outpacing current AI demand forecasts?

Core argument: Microsoft has abandoned new data center projects in the US and Europe totaling roughly 2 gigawatts of electricity capacity, which TD Cowen analysts attribute to an oversupply of the computer clusters that power AI.

Microsoft has walked away from new data center projects in the US and Europe that would have amounted to a capacity of about 2 gigawatts of electricity, according to TD Cowen analysts, who attributed the pullback to an oversupply of the clusters of computers that power artificial intelligence. Google had stepped in to grab some leases Microsoft abandoned in Europe, the analysts wrote, while Meta had scooped up some of the freed capacity in Europe. Microsoft says it remains on track to spend about $80 billion building out AI data centers in its fiscal year that ends in June. “We continue to believe the lease cancellations and deferrals of capacity points to data center oversupply relative to its current demand forecast,” TD Cowen analysts Michael Elias, Cooper Belanger and Gregory Williams wrote.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. Microsoft has abandoned new data center projects in the US and Europe totaling roughly 2 gigawatts of electricity capacity, which TD Cowen analysts attribute to an oversupply of the computer clusters that power AI.
  2. TD Cowen analysts Michael Elias, Cooper Belanger and Gregory Williams wrote that Microsoft's lease cancellations and capacity deferrals point to data center oversupply relative to its current demand forecast.
  3. Microsoft says it remains on track to spend about $80 billion building out AI data centers in its fiscal year ending in June, while Google and Meta took up some of the leases and capacity Microsoft freed in Europe.

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  • Microsoft Dropped Some AI Data Center Leases, TD Cowen Says — Microsoft has voided data center leases totaling a couple of hundred megawatts of capacity and stopped converting preliminary agreements into formal leases, according to brokerage TD Cowen's checks with supply chain providers. TD Cowen also says Microsoft is redirecting some planned international spending to the US, suggesting a material slowdown in international leasing.
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