WATCH: CNN Analyst SAVAGES Kamala’s Latest Proposal, Links Plan To Failed Communist Regimes

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 countries before, Venezuela, Argentina, the Soviet Union, etc. It leads to shortages, it leads to black markets, you know, plenty of uncertainty,” Rampell added.

WATCH:

“The specific way this bill is written might actually increase prices because of some of the other language in it, things like requiring companies, public companies to disclose in their quarterly reports, their quarterly earnings reports, how they’re setting prices, which is a great way to help them collude, which normally we don’t want them to do,” she finished.

Price gouging refers to the practice of significantly increasing the prices of goods or services to an unfair or excessively high level, especially during an emergency or crisis when demand is unusually high and supply may be limited. This can occur with essential items such as food, water, gasoline, or medical supplies during natural disasters, pandemics, or other critical events. The legality and definition of price gouging vary by jurisdiction, but it is often regulated by laws that aim to prevent exploitative pricing practices during times of emergency. These laws typically set limits on the allowable price increases for certain essential goods and services.

Rampell wrote in her piece in The Washington Post:

It’s hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is. It is, in all but name, a sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food. Supply and demand would no longer determine prices or profit levels. Far-off Washington bureaucrats would. The FTC would be able to tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio the acceptable price it can charge for milk.

At best, this would lead to shortages, black markets and hoarding, among other distortions seen previous times countries tried to limit price growth by fiat. (There’s a reason narrower “price gouging” laws that exist in some U.S. states are rarely invoked.) At worst, it might accidentally raise prices.

That’s because, among other things, the legislation would ban companies from offering lower prices to a big customer such as Costco than to Joe’s Corner Store, which means quantity discounts are in trouble. Worse, it would require public companies to publish detailed internal data about costs, margins, contracts and their future pricing strategies. Posting cost and pricing plans publicly is a fantastic way for companies to collude to keep prices higher — all facilitated by the government.

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