A Crash This Time Could Erase More Value Than the Entire U.S. Economy Produces in a Year.
Former CIA and Pentagon Advisor lays out why he believes the AI bubble has grown larger, in dollar terms, than any before it
Washington, D.C., Aug. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Every bubble feels enormous at its peak. Jim Rickards says this one actually is, on a scale with no real precedent. In a new presentation, the former advisor to the CIA and the Pentagon argues that the AI boom has grown larger in dollar terms than any bubble in modern history, and that its unwinding could destroy more wealth than the U.S. economy produces in an entire year.
Bigger Than Every Bubble Before It, Combined
Rickards' case begins with size. "It's estimated that the AI bubble is now 17 times larger than the dotcom bubble," he says, a gap so wide that, in his words, "it makes it several orders of magnitude bigger than the subprime bubble."
Stacked against every other mania in living memory, he argues, it still stands alone. "And in pure dollar terms, it's easily bigger than every other bubble put together," Rickards says. The sheer scale, in his view, is what turns a market correction into something closer to a systemic event.
A Crash Larger Than the Economy Itself
The figure Rickards finds most sobering comes not from him but from outside analysts. "One of the best consulting firms in America is now warning we could see a market crash greater than the size of U.S. GDP!" he says, meaning a decline that would erase more value than the entire American economy generates in a year.
Numbers like that, he argues, are hard to even picture. He describes a potential unwinding "that could be trillions upon trillions of dollars in scale." His point is that when a bubble grows larger than the economy underneath it, the fallout cannot be neatly contained to the investors who chased it.
Worse Than 2008, COVID, and Dotcom Combined
Put together, Rickards believes the damage could exceed anything in recent memory. By his team's estimates, he says, "this coming collapse will be more devastating than the 2008 financial crisis... the COVID crash... or even the dotcom collapse combined."
He does not shy away from what that could mean for the market itself, warning that in his assessment "the market could fall by as much as 80%." Rickards frames these as estimates and his own analysis rather than certainties, but his argument is that the scale of the buildup is precisely what makes the potential downside so severe, and why he believes investors should understand it now rather than after the fact.
About the Presentation
In his new presentation, Jim Rickards explains why he believes the AI bubble has grown larger than any before it, what a collapse on that scale could do to the broader market, and the steps he says investors can take to protect themselves and even profit if it bursts.
Jim Rickards' presentation is now available online for free. Click here to watch.
About Jim Rickards
Jim Rickards is a former advisor to the CIA and the Pentagon. He was once called in to help the Federal Reserve negotiate the rescue of a hedge fund whose collapse threatened the global financial system, and two years before the 2008 meltdown he sent Washington a warning it went on to ignore.
Derek Warren Public Relations Manager Paradigm Press Group Email: dwarren@paradigmpressgroup.com
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