DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) – Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is proposing a ban on price gouging at food delivery companies and grocery stores in hopes of lowering the prices of essential goods such as food and medicine.
Jared Pincin, an economics professor at Cedarville University, says there is no direct definition of price gouging. It is usually referred to when prices are excessively high, especially after a supply disruption.
“At the federal level, there are no laws against price gouging. There are laws that can prevent misleading pricing,” Pincin said.
Studies have shown that under the Biden-Harris administration, a surge in inflation increased overall costs by 19 percent, with food prices alone rising by 21 percent.
In response, Harris believes her new proposal to ban price gouging at the federal level will lower prices and make basic necessities more affordable for many Americans.
“These prices give signals to both sides of the market to change their behavior. I guess if I had only one pro, it would be to keep prices lower than they would normally be in a market, but that leads to big cons,” Pincin said.
Pincin said Harris might propose this because it is politically popular.
“I always tell my students, if I went into a store and everything was free, that would be great. So if you defend the ability to move prices both up and down, that’s hard to argue. So, politically, yes, I’m going to stop corporate greed, I’m going to stop price increases, that’s very popular politically, even if the actual dynamics and details are not so favorable,” Pincin said.
Mary Edsall, a local resident, says she cannot imagine Harris’ proposal.
“I don’t understand how she can do that. First of all, is her claim correct? Are these extortionate prices?” Edsall said.
Edsall told us that she believes this ban would be a step backwards.
“I’ve heard the vice president and the president blame farmers for high food prices, but when you think about it, farmers are paying just as high prices as we are. It always comes back to the consumer, there’s nothing they can do about it because their prices have all gone up and I believe that’s because of the government’s actions,” Edsall said.
As soon as we learn more about this possible ban, we will keep you updated live and online.
