In a Friday interview on CNN, Washington Post journalist Catherine Rampell roasted Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposed economic policies, specifically targeting a federal ban on “price gouging” for grocers. Rampell’s analysis drew parallels between Harris’ ideas and policies from failed communist regimes throughout history.
“First of all, nobody can explain what price gouging means. It’s like that old line about pornography. I know it when I see it,” Rampell explained. “In the sense that, what does it mean to have an excessive price or an excessive profit margin. That seems to be shorthand for a price or a profit margin that bugs me, that seems too high. So, you know, it’s very hard to pin down what this would actually mean.”
“The particular way that this is written, which is likely to be the template for any proposal that Harris would eventually embrace, is especially bad. It just bans excessive prices, grossly excessive prices, grossly excessive profit margins, and says that the Federal Trade Commission can use any metric it deems appropriate,” Rampell continued.
The CNN analyst also brought up historical precedents where similar economic controls had detrimental effects. “We’ve seen this kind of thing tried in lots of other