Economist Steve Moore admitted on Newsmax Wednesday that he had underestimated key economic trends under the Trump administration.
Inflation rose less than anticipated in May, with the Consumer Price Index showing a 0.1% increase from April and a 2.4% rise year-over-year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Appearing on Newsmax TV’s “Carl Higbie Frontline,” Moore acknowledged that recent inflation figures had caught him off guard, noting they were lower than he had previously predicted.
“I’ve got to confess, I’ve been wrong on the inflation numbers over the last three or four months as well. But at least I’m willing to admit I was wrong,” Moore said. The economist, who had previously voiced skepticism about President Donald Trump’s economic policies, acknowledged that the economy was performing significantly better than he had anticipated.
“The numbers got better and, look, it’s very clear that Trump, he’s just pushing all the right buttons right now. It’s hard to find anything in this economy today to complain about,” Moore added. “We’re seven million job openings. A record number of Americans, [their] working real wages are rising for the first time in four years. That inflation number blew me away.”
Moore noted that while tariffs initially led to higher prices, those increases were ultimately offset by the overall strength of the economy. “I did think that tariffs would raise prices. They did a little bit but not much, and that was offset by the fact that the economy is doing really well,” he said.
“We’re producing more goods and services, and this is just basic supply-side economics. If you produce more eggs and you produce more oil, guess what? The prices of these things go down,” Moore added, going on to discuss what he saw as a massive federal spending spree under Biden that caused undue inflation.
“Now I know for people who work for Joe Biden that was a tough thing to figure out, but I’m glad I was wrong. I’m just surprised so many of these people haven’t done a mea culpa [and] said that ‘I’m wrong,’” Moore added. “Remember, by the way, when Biden started his massive four or five trillion-dollar spending spree? You may recall that there were 12 Nobel Prize economists who said ‘Don’t worry, this won’t cause inflation,’ and then we had the highest inflation ever. Wouldn’t you think these people [should] just send their Ph.D.‘s back and say ‘We don’t have any idea what we’re talking about’?”
