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Watch As Steve Moore Tells Former Biden Official How 2026 Will Have ‘Blockbuster’ Economy

Steve Moore Tells Former Biden Official Why He Foresees 'Blockbuster' Economy In 2026 (Screenshot/CNN)

Economist Steve Moore pushed back Friday after the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rohit Chopra painted a bleak picture of the U.S. economy.

During an exchange on “The Lead With Jake Tapper,” Moore rejected Chopra’s claim that Americans are falling behind as debt and delinquencies rise. Moore said higher real median incomes and easing prices point to a “blockbuster” economy in 2026 rather than the downturn Democrats warn about.

“When we gaslight people about how the economy is doing, it is very perilous. The reality is that people feel they are on a treadmill. They are racking up big debt. Credit card delinquency, for those who are seriously late, is at a 12-year high,” Chopra said. “Student loan delinquency has surged. Their cost of living is going up. So, look, I want the economy to be on the right track. I don’t want there to be a recession. But there are some serious challenges that we should not delude people about.”

Moore did not dispute that some households face real pressure, but he rejected Chopra’s suggestion that economic gains exist only on paper. He pointed to rising real median family income, saying households in the middle of the income ladder saw roughly a $1,500 increase over the past year.

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“I agree with that. But it’s also true that real median family income, the people in the exact middle of the economy, saw about a $1,500 increase in their income this year. But people tend to focus on the things that are going up in price, like housing and health care and beef prices,” Moore said. “They seem to not be looking at things like gas prices and egg prices and hotel prices and airline prices that have been falling. But look, I’m here to tell you, I think we’re going to have a blockbuster year in 2026. And, hopefully, I think we’d all like to see a rising tide that lifts.”

The U.S. economy logged solid growth under President Donald Trump in 2025, buoyed by strong third-quarter performance and policy moves that extended tax cuts, streamlined the federal workforce, and reshaped trade. An analyst told the Daily Caller News Foundation that despite lingering headwinds, the past year showed meaningful economic momentum heading into 2026.

“The tale of 2025 has been solid [real gross domestic product (real GDP)] figures, powered by domestic consumption, alongside gradually rising unemployment and a break in the downward inflation trend, with inflation settling significantly higher than the Fed’s [Federal Reserve’s] target,” Jason Sorens, a senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), told the DCNF. “I would call it ‘mild stagflation.’ Unemployment is still low but if it rises even more, that would suggest the economy is now operating below full capacity.”

New federal figures released Dec. 23 showed the U.S. economy delivered a stronger-than-anticipated performance in the third quarter of 2025. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported output climbed at a 4.3% annual pace, driven largely by resilient consumer demand.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/CNN)