Opinion

STEPHEN MOORE: Data centers aren’t just buildings. They are economic engines

The AI buildout is the largest infrastructure project in our history — bigger in real dollars than the railroads, rural electrification, or the interstate highways

By Stephen Moore Fox News

Published August 28, 2026 9:00am EDT

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On November 17, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed an executive order fixing the eastern terminus of the transcontinental railroad at Council Bluffs, Iowa. A modest town on the Missouri River became Mile Zero of the infrastructure that built industrial America. By the early 20th century, eight major railroads ran through Council Bluffs, and a farm-state river crossing had become one of the great junction points of the American economy.

A century and a half later, Council Bluffs is Mile Zero again.

In 2007, Google chose this town of 62,000 for one of its first company-built data centers. The company recognized, as Lincoln did, that America's infrastructure runs through the middle of the country. What’s also clear today are the extraordinary benefits that flow to the states and cities hosting 21st century........

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