Lots of these “dividend” ideas around right now: my Norwegian conservationist dudes write about the value given to us from nature as a Natural Dividend (#1565551). The BPI just reported, elegantly, on another type of “dividend” (#1566227).

...obviously:

Here’s the WSJ Editorial Board looking at the “dividend” from data centers looked at through county-level economic data.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics last week published industry-level data on state and county employment and wages through March of this year. We compared growth in Loudoun County, Va.—known as Data Center Alley—with other Washington, D.C., suburbs since early 2020 before the pandemic. The disparities are striking.

Loudoun has long been a hub for data-center development because of its easy zoning, relatively low-cost energy and geographical proximity to telecom network exchanges. It’s an exurban county with more land for growth than older suburbs closer to D.C. But it has also embraced growth, unlike those older suburbs. Construction growth has accelerated amid the AI boom, with permitted data-center space increasing by some 150% between 2020 and 2025. Jobs have followed.

Everything is great, then: “Data centers can help to spread prosperity without government intervention and income redistribution.”

“Most counties surrounding the capital have experienced little job growth since the pandemic.”

Loundon is a glaring exception, employment up 17.4% since 2020, flat or negative in surrounding countries.

Loudoun’s prosperity isn’t an isolated example. Meta’s massive data-center project in Richland Parish in Louisiana is helping revive that poor, rural farming community. Since the first quarter of last year, private employment in Richland has grown 41%, and average weekly wages have shot up 61%

While building data centers won’t provide lifetime employment, many workers will be needed to run and maintain them, as well as the plants that power them. Politicians in both parties fret that AI will increase the concentration of wealth and leave rural communities behind. Folks in Richland who are prospering probably don’t see it that way.

Yeah, you wanna build some stuff and enrich us? BE MY GUEST, HUH!

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