Robert Reich, who served as Secretary of Labor under former President Bill Clinton, praised Vice President Kamala Harris’ newly announced economic plan that targets corporate monopolies.
“I think this is a very important plan because what Kamala Harris is doing; [President] Joe Biden’s biggest goal is to attack monopoly power, which is one of the most important causes of high prices.” Reich told NBC News: Valerie Castro appeared on “NBC News Now” Friday.
Harris, the incumbent Democratic presidential nominee, unveiled her economic plan at a rally in North Carolina on Friday. She touted economic proposals released by her campaign this week, including a federal ban on price gouging. The legislation would allow state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate how companies are using prices to boost profits and exploit consumers.
Another proposal unveiled by Harris’ team would build new homes to address the housing shortage and provide down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers. Vice President Harris’ campaign wants to restore and expand the child tax credit.
“Many of America’s biggest companies are making record profits because they’re not competing as hard,” he says. “They don’t have to lower their prices because they have so little competition. And who ends up losing out and paying higher prices? Of course, it’s the consumer.”
Former President Trump’s campaign criticized Harris’ economic policies, linking her proposals to the socialist policies of Venezuela and Cuba and arguing that they would not lower costs for consumers across the country. The campaign attacked the price gouging ban, arguing that it is tantamount to government price controls.
Reich, now a public policy professor at the University of Berkeley, defended Harris’ measure during an appearance on NBC News Now, saying there is a “big” difference between price controls and market “competition.”
“In fact, this is the opposite of price controls,” Reich says. “When big corporations have the kind of power they have over prices, they control prices. When you have more competition and you no longer have monopolies, you’re forcing corporations to do what capitalism should force them to do: compete.”
