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Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness SubscribeSign in Advertisement Democracy Dies in Darkness BusinessEconomy Economic Policy Personal Finance Work Technology Business of Climate BusinessEconomy Economic Policy Personal Finance Work Technology Business of Climate Economic Policy KAMALA HARRIS TO PROPOSE BAN ON ‘PRICE GOUGING’ FOR FOOD, GROCERIES The vice president on Friday will make her most substantive economic policy announcement since launching her campaign. 7 min 532 Sorry, a summary is not available for this article at this time. Please try again later. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with the press before departing on Air Force 2 at Detroit Metro Airport on Aug. 8. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post) By Jeff Stein August 15, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday will unveil a proposed ban on “price gouging” in the grocery and food industries, embracing a strikingly populist proposal in her most significant economic policy announcement since becoming the Democratic Party’s nominee. Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend. In a statement released late Wednesday night, the Harris campaign said that if elected, she would push for the “first-ever federal ban” on food price hikes, with sweeping new powers for federal authorities. Harris on Friday will also announce plans to lower prescription drug and housing costs, the campaign said. Harris’s plans amount to a sharp escalation in the economic populism even of President Joe Biden, who had already pulled the party to the left on economic policy compared with his Democratic predecessors. While offering some overtures to the business elite, Harris is attempting to respond to intense voter frustration over rising prices — particularly grocery prices — with a far-reaching proposal. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Harris’s plan will include “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries — setting clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits on food and groceries,” the campaign said in a statement. The exact details of the campaign’s plan were not immediately clear, but Harris said she would aim to enact the ban within her first 100 days, in part by directing the Federal Trade Commission to impose “harsh penalties” on firms that break new limits on “price gouging.” The statement did not define price gouging or “excessive” profits. Republican and many Democratic economists see mandatory price controls as a counterproductive form of government intervention that discourages firms from producing enough supply to meet demand. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement “This represents a return to the lazy, failed economic policies of the 1970s, when price controls proved to be a disaster for the economy,” said Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank. “It shows Harris is pandering for easy answers on the economy, even more aggressively than Biden had. Biden had talked about price gouging but was not this aggressive, seeking reforms to actually ban it.” Harris’s policy announcement comes as Democratic policymakers have been looking for clues into her plans for the economy. Biden staffed his White House and key regulatory agencies with appointments significantly to the left of President Barack Obama’s team; and on a range of policies — antitrust, trade, labor rights, industrial policy — he shattered the party consensus that had prevailed since the Clinton administration, pushing for more government intervention in nearly every facet of the nation’s economy. Much of Harris’s approach so far suggests continuity with Biden’s policymaking, including her selection as a running mate of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who has enacted a state child tax credit and universal free school lunch, among other liberal policies. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Beyond her interest in advancing the “care agenda,” such as child care and paid family leave, Harris has also been a stalwart ally of labor unions, making one of her first campaign stops with the United Auto Workers. Within the administration, Harris was a strong advocate of reducing medical and student debt and played a role in the administration’s work to crack down on “junk fees.” Deputy Commerce Secretary Donald Graves is viewed as a potential top economic adviser to Harris if she is elected, as are Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, longtime advisers Rohini Kosoglu and Mike Pyle, and top Treasury official Brian Nelson, who recently joined her campaign team, according to five current and former administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private relationships. Share this articleShare Other advisers include Brian Deese, who served as Biden’s top economic adviser, and Gene Sperling, who previously served in the Clinton, Obama and Biden administrations and recently joined the campaign’s policy team. Grace Landrieu is the campaign’s policy director. On many key policy questions, however, tensions are lingering within the Democratic Party over what Harris’s views are and how she might break with Biden. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement The biggest potential change may be in how she approaches business. Harris met with JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon in March, for instance, and has had a long-standing relationship with financier Blair Effron and Lazard President Raymond J. McGuire, an early supporter, said two other people familiar with the matter, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. The Business Roundtable, a group of the nation’s leading executives, has also invited Harris to speak and is in touch with her team. (A BRT spokeswoman pointed out that was in practice with the organization’s policy and that it is also talking with Trump’s team. Trump spoke to the group earlier this year.) “Her team is smart to acknowledge there’s a buildup of pressure in parts of the business community and it’s worth talking to them,” said Zach Butterworth, who led private sector engagement for the White House and is now at Lafayette Advisors, a strategic advisory firm. “She knows they’re an important voice.” But liberals have grown concerned that these olive branches could be used to poke holes in their plans. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement On antitrust policy, the Harris campaign has faced calls to make clear that she stands behind Lina Khan, the crusading former law professor whom Biden tapped to lead the Federal Trade Commission, after a top donor said he hopes Harris replaces Khan. Some advisers say it makes little sense for Harris to preemptively vow to stand by Khan — especially on a matter that they believe is of little interest to voters in the Rust Belt. But her long-standing ties to tech executives in California — often the targets of Khan and Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission — have deepened suspicions among some critics of Silicon Valley that she could reverse Biden’s tough approach to the industry, including on cryptocurrencies and AI regulation. For now, considerations on policy will probably be driven almost entirely by ensuring Democrats win the presidential election. The Trump campaign is repeatedly attacking Biden and Harris’s work on policy, with Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday saying in a statement: “Under Kamala Harris, everything costs 20 percent more than it did under President Trump. … America cannot afford another four years of Kamala’s failed economic policies. Harris last weekend endorsed Trump’s proposal to eliminate taxes on tips, despite the consensus among Democratic policy experts that such a measure is badly designed and unfair. Some advisers have also suggested to the campaign that Harris embrace a tax cut for small businesses to distance herself from the party’s liberal base, or signal a warmer view of the crypto industry than other Democrats. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement But her plan to combat prices in food and groceries has suggested that Harris may even move left of Biden on some economic policies. Grocery prices have remained roughly flat over the past year, rising only 1 percent, but have jumped 26 percent since 2019, according to Elizabeth Pancotti, director of special initiatives at the Roosevelt Institute, a left-leaning think tank. “It’s hard to get down an aisle in the grocery store without finding an example of price gouging or price fixing, and it’s costing us dearly,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, a left-leaning think tank. “It’s wonderful to see the vice president unleash a suite of policy proposals to crack down on these cheaters and protect Americans’ pocketbooks.” ELECTION 2024 Follow live updates on the 2024 election and candidates Vice President Harris and former president Donald Trump from our reporters on the campaign trail and in Washington. Presidential polls: Check out how Harris and Trump stack up, according to The Washington Post’s presidential polling averages of seven battleground states. VP picks: Harris has officially secured the Democratic presidential nomination and chose Walz, a Midwestern Democrat and former high school teacher, to be her running mate. GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump chose Sen. JD Vance (Ohio), a rising star in the Republican Party. Here’s where JD Vance and Tim Walz stand on key policies. Share 532 Comments Election 2024 HAND CURATED * Election 2024 live updates: Biden to join Harris at Md. event; Trump to hold news conference 1 hour ago Election 2024 live updates: Biden to join Harris at Md. event; Trump to hold news conference 1 hour ago * Who is ahead in Harris vs. Trump 2024 presidential polls right now? 1 hour ago Who is ahead in Harris vs. Trump 2024 presidential polls right now? 1 hour ago * Vance, Walz agree to Oct. 1 vice-presidential debate 1 hour ago Vance, Walz agree to Oct. 1 vice-presidential debate 1 hour ago View 3 more stories NewsletterWednesdays The Color of Money Advice on how to save, spend and talk about your money for the short and long term from Michelle Singletary. Sign up Subscribe to comment and get the full experience. 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