{"id":517462,"date":"2026-01-15T08:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/517462\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T08:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:12:13","slug":"fox-business-host-larry-kudlow-repeatedly-predicted-negative-inflation-for-december-2025-it-increased-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/517462\/","title":{"rendered":"Fox Business host Larry Kudlow repeatedly predicted \u201cnegative\u201d inflation for December 2025. It increased instead."},"content":{"rendered":"

Beginning last month and continuing in the lead-up to the January 13 release of the Consumer Price Index inflation report for December 2025, which showed<\/a> monthly price increases of 0.3% and an annualized inflation rate of 2.7%, Fox Business host and former Trump economic adviser<\/a> Larry Kudlow repeatedly claimed that CPI reports could start showing zero or even negative inflation, also known as deflation.<\/p>\n

Kudlow based his claims on a recent dip in gas prices that are still nowhere near historic lows<\/a>, and the surprisingly low inflation print in the November 2025 CPI report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But economists and experts explained<\/a> that the low inflation read in November was essentially a mirage based on missing and irregular data collection due to the government shutdown late last year. Prior to the November 2025 CPI report, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that its numbers \u201cmay be distorted \u2026 because data was not collected in October and half of November,\u201d and said that \u201cwe\u2019re going to have to look at it carefully and with a somewhat skeptical eye.\u201d Harvard University economist Jason Furman and Stripe chief economist Ernie Tedeschi specifically mentioned that the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unable to collect shelter inflation data in October 2025 due to the shutdown, simply assumed its value was zero which led to inflation being understated.<\/p>\n

Inflation forecasts for 2026 show an expectation that the CPI will continue to be elevated throughout the year. The Congressional Budget Office\u2019s<\/a> economic projections show an expected annualized CPI rate of 2.8% over the next year, while the Blue Chip Survey of Professional Forecasters<\/a> shows an average consensus expectation of a 2.9% inflation rate in 2026.<\/p>\n

Yet according to Kudlow, who served as director of the National Economic Council during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term and has been fabulously wrong<\/a> in his economic predictions on numerous occasions<\/a>, Americans should expect several months \u2014 or even entire quarters \u2014 of negative inflation. As economist Claudia Sahm<\/a> explained last month, \u201cwe don’t tend to see big price declines outside of recessions,\u201d concluding that general deflation \u201cin all likelihood would be very painful.\u201d If Kudlow’s deflation prediction does end up being fulfilled in the next year, it might not be cause for celebration.<\/p>\n