Economic commentator warns Harris’ price control plan already tried in ‘Venezuela, Argentina, Soviet Union’

A liberal economics columnist has criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposal for food and grocery price controls as “completely unworkable” and compared it to failed efforts by communist regimes.

“It’s not the market or supply and demand that decides how much grocery stores charge for milk or eggs, it’s bureaucrats in Washington, and that just doesn’t seem to work,” Katherine Rampell told CNN on Friday.

Rampell, a Washington Post columnist and CNN economic and political commentator, argued that the plan is “bad” for a variety of reasons, from practicality to effectiveness.

“First of all, no one can explain what price gouging means,” she told CNN, adding that the idea of ​​”excessive” prices or profit margins is subjective and “it’s very difficult to pinpoint exactly what this means in practice.”

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She also slammed the Democratic bill, which she said was “likely to be a template” for Harris’ policy proposals, as “particularly bad.”

“If you look at the bill that’s already in the Senate, as I mentioned, led by Senator Warren, Senator Bob Casey and a number of others, which would be a template for a proposal that Ms. Harris would ultimately accept, the specific way this bill is written is particularly egregious in that it prohibits exorbitant prices, extremely exorbitant prices, extremely exorbitant profit margins, and allows the FTC to determine what that means using whatever standards it deems appropriate,” she said, rejecting the idea that “the FTC would decide how much, for example, Kroger can sell eggs for in Michigan.”

Moreover, she argued, the plan would be “very bad for markets” and could lead down the same failed path as socialist and communist governments.

In her election speech, Harris criticized the economic crisis that began during her administration.

Vice President Harris’ price control plan would be bad for markets, argued CNN commentator Katherine Rampell. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua via Getty Images)

“Many countries have tried this before – Venezuela, Argentina, the Soviet Union – and it creates shortages, black markets and a lot of uncertainty,” she said.

“Plus, depending on how the bill is specifically written, it could actually drive up prices because of other language, such as requiring public companies to disclose their pricing methodologies in their quarterly filings and quarterly earnings reports. This is a great way to encourage collusion, which is something we don’t normally want,” she explained.

Rampell predicted that a bill that maintains Harris’ proposal would “at best accomplish nothing and at worst do a lot of damage.”

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

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The Harris campaign first unveiled a federal price-fixing plan for corporations on Wednesday, saying Harris would give the Federal Trade Commission the power to impose “severe penalties” on companies that charge excessively high prices for food and groceries.

The news was met with skepticism from some left-leaning economists and financial experts, including Rampell, who wrote a scathing op-ed in The Washington Post on Thursday.

“It is difficult to overstate how terrible this policy is. It is sweeping government price controls in all but name, not just to the food industry but to all industries. Supply and demand will no longer dictate prices and profit levels. They will be decided by far-away bureaucrats in Washington. The FTC will be able to tell, say, Kroger in Ohio, what a reasonable price it can charge for milk,” Rampell writes.