Ask economists, analysts, and the White House if the United States is in a recession and you’ll get mixed answers. As the US posted two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, a recession definition was made this week. Did the richest man in the world correctly predict a recession?

What happened: The richest man in the world and Tesla Inc TSLA chairman Elon Musk tweeted a prediction in December 2021 that the US would enter a recession.

“If history is any guide, not many will survive the next recession,” Musk said tweeted.

At the request of a Twitter Inc TWTR When he thought the next recession was coming, Musk offered his prediction.

“Predicting the macro economy is challenging, to say the least. My gut feeling is maybe spring or summer 2022, but no later than 2023.”

In May Musk said The US was already in a recession that could last 12 to 18 months.

“If someone runs a company that makes useful products, make sure you don’t run things too marginally from a capitalist perspective,” Musk warned. “Reserve an allocation of capital that endures through irrational times.”

Musk said things could “get tough” during the recession, but then things would get better.

Related link: Are we in a recession? Google searches reach record levels for financial terms

Why it matters: musk said Inflation could be trending lower this week based on commodity prices for Tesla and other Musk-led companies. As a result, the good news for consumers could be lower prices for Tesla vehicles. Tesla has raised its prices by over 20% over the past two years electr.

Musk said he previously waited for inflation to “settle down.” to reduce the prices for vehicles.

“Inflation may be trending down,” Musk said tweeted. “More Tesla commodity prices are trending down than up.”

The definition of a recession has been a much-discussed topic in recent weeks.

Bloomberg reporter Steve Matthews offered his opinion on what the…