On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage in Raleigh, North Carolina, to lay out her economic policy agenda. In recent weeks, Harris has been criticized for her lack of concrete substantive positions, leaving many voters doubting her potential administration’s true vision for America. Although the speech was designed to be a major policy revelation, her remarks were little more than vague promises wrapped up in radical rhetoric.
Harris’s proposed solutions to inflation – for which Harris is personally responsible, as she was the deciding vote on the Inflation Expansion Act – were the centerpiece of her speech. But instead of offering a clear strategy, she laid out a radical plan to ban “price gouging” on essential goods.
As economically illiterate as this Soviet-style price control system may be, we should take Harris at his word. One tool the Biden-Harris administration is already using to lay the groundwork for food price controls is the revival of the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), an ossified law dating back to the Great Depression.
The RPA prohibits wholesalers and manufacturers from selling goods of similar grade and quality to buyers at different prices. Originally intended to protect small businesses from unfair competition, the RPA’s track record shows that it has done more harm than good. According to a 1977 Department of Justice report, enforcement of the RPA has increased prices throughout the economy by preventing negotiations between buyers and suppliers. By imposing autocratic price controls on consumer goods, corporate innovation is stifled while American shoppers suffer higher prices.
Under the Biden administration, the Federal Trade Commission is already trying to revive the RPA. Chair Lina Khan, who will undoubtedly continue her abysmal performance under a potential Harris administration, recently launched an investigation into Big Grocery, fueling speculation that the RPA could be used to impose crippling price controls. If elected, Harris will launch a much broader RPA attack on American companies and expand the government’s influence over the economy.
Instead of blaming American companies for rising prices, Harris should look in the mirror and see the real cause of the dysfunction of the American economy: the policy failures of the Biden-Harris administration.
Since taking office in January 2021, food prices have risen 21% under Biden and Harris’ leadership. Government lockdowns, combined with the inflationary effects of the The $1.9 trillion “Inflation Reduction Act” has driven up grocery bills. Harris’ proposed price controls will only exacerbate the problem, leading to even higher costs and fewer choices for consumers.
In contrast, commodity prices remained stable and low throughout the Trump administration. According to AP News, food prices are 25% higher than they were before the pandemic. However, over the past 12 months, food prices have only increased by 1.18%, belying Harris’ claim that grocers are actively ripping off Americans. Instead, the Biden administration’s failed economic policies have kept prices high for Americans due to crippling inflation and disrupted supply chains.
Harris’s vague policy proposals are a desperate attempt to cover up the failings of the Biden-Harris administration, but voters should be wary of what lies beneath the surface. If elected, Harris’s administration will usher in an era of unprecedented government overreach, with devastating consequences for American workers and businesses alike.
