Washington Post columnist Katherine Rampell criticized Vice President Harris’ proposal to implement federal price controls to stop “price gouging” on food.
“It is impossible to overstate how bad this policy is,” Rampell wrote. An editorial published Thursday“This is sweeping government price control in all but name, not just in the food industry but in all industries. Supply and demand will no longer dictate prices and profit levels. Far-away bureaucrats in Washington will. The FTC will be able to dictate to, say, Kroger in Ohio, the fair price it can charge for milk.”
Harris’ campaign announced Wednesday that if she becomes president, she would “institute a federal ban on food and grocery price gouging” to stop “big corporations” from taking unfair advantage of consumers.
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Washington Post columnist Katherine Rampell criticized Vice President Harris’ proposal to implement federal price controls to stop “price gouging” on food. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
“At best, this would lead to shortages, black markets, hoarding, and other distortions that we’ve seen when countries have tried to limit price increases through legislation,” Rampell wrote. “There’s a reason why the more limited ‘price gouging’ laws in place in some US states are rarely invoked. At worst, it could accidentally drive up prices.”
“But more importantly, if your opponent claims you’re a ‘communist,’ maybe they shouldn’t start with an economic policy that could (accurately) be called federal price controls,” she wrote. “We’ve already got a ton of economic nonsense coming from the Republican presidential candidate. Do we need more from his opponent?”
Former President Trump held a press conference in New Jersey on Thursday and called Harris’ proposal a “communist-style price control” policy.
“They don’t work,” he said. “It leads to food shortages, rationing, starvation and a dramatic rise in inflation.”
Rampell wrote that Harris’ proposed bill “would prohibit companies from offering large customers like Costco a lower price than Joe’s Corner Store — essentially volume discounts are an issue.”
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Former President Trump held a press conference in New Jersey on Thursday and called Governor Harris’ proposal a “communist price control” policy. (AP/Rick Bowmer)
“To make matters worse, publicly traded companies are required to publish detailed internal data about their costs, profits, contracts and future pricing strategies,” the columnist continued. “Making costs and pricing plans public is a great way for companies to collude and keep prices high, all facilitated by the government.”
Rampell said he did not answer questions about policy details when contacted by the Harris campaign.
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The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
