In fact, you'd think it would be the reverse - the Great Stagnation may be all that's keeping us alive right now.

I don't see why we should obviously expect funding for AGI to benefit from economic growth in a way that funding for FAI doesn't. If Silicon Valley is booming, I'd expect MIRI to receive more donations and Google to put more money in to self-driving cars. If Silicon Valley is contracting, I'd expect MIRI to receive fewer donations and Google to put less money in to self-driving cars. Am I missing something here?