Posted on 08/15/2024 5:38:07 AM PDT by foundedonpurpose
Not able to source an outside writer, Zero Hedge does write some of their own articles, they have gotten better over the years on this issue.
"It's Communism": Kamala's First Economic Plan Proposes Price Controls To "Combat Inflation"
Thursday, Aug 15, 2024 - 06:45 AM After the unoriginal Vice President Kamala Harris stole former President Trump's proposed 'no tax on tips' policy, she's at it again with yet another recycled idea. This time, she's echoing President Biden's actions and rhetoric to crack down on sky-high food prices by proposing the first-ever federal ban on "corporate price-gouging in the food and grocery industries"—a move that reeks of socialism.
"There's a big difference between fair pricing in competitive markets, and excessive prices unrelated to the costs of doing business," the Harris campaign wrote in a statement, adding, "Americans can see that difference in their grocery bills."
The Harris campaign said the vice president will unveil the new federal proposed ban on Friday at a campaign rally in the battleground state of North Carolina as part of a broader economic policy platform. The proposal will ensure food companies can't exploit consumers to increase profits, according to CBS News, citing Harris-Walz campaign officials.
Harris' policy speech will also call on the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys to examine corporations violating price-fixing rules. Her remarks are expected to echo Biden's actions and rhetoric, especially with his war against meat processing companies that he alleges are responsible for higher burger prices at the supermarket.
VP Harris' campaign argues that lowering Americans' costs is a function of socialist-style price controls. Yet this is the quickest way to understand that Harris' economic team has no actual understanding of inflation.
Heritage Foundation's EJ Antoni explained, "Here's your "price gouging" narrative: average costs paid by businesses have risen just as much as costs charged to consumers - if businesses are being "greedy," they're doing it all wrong..."
Instead of curbing out-of-control government spending, which debt rises $1 trillion every 100 days, and understanding that monetary inflation driven by the Federal Reserve's money creation is the root cause of inflation, Harris deflects the actual problem: The Fed. She instead goes after big corporations for 'illegal price gouging.'
Here's a snippet of Money Metals Midweek Memo's Mike Maharrey commenting on Harris' proposed price-fixing ban on big food companies:
The second "dumb" idea Maharrey discussed came from Vice President Kamala Harris, who was recently asked about her plan to combat inflation. Maharrey criticized her response, which he described as "word salad," pointing out that she merely acknowledged the problem without offering any concrete solutions. Instead, she promised to take on "big corporations" engaging in "illegal price gouging," corporate landlords, and big pharma.
Maharrey argued that Harris's approach misses the root cause of inflation, which is monetary inflation driven by the Federal Reserve's money creation. He cited the July budget deficit data, revealing that the Biden administration spent another $574 billion in just one month, running a $243 billion deficit. Maharrey emphasized that inflation is not caused by corporate greed but by the government's excessive spending and borrowing.
"Price inflation is a symptom of monetary inflation, which has everything to do with money creation by the Federal Reserve," Maharrey explained. He warned that Harris's proposed policies, including price controls, would likely lead to shortages and exacerbate the problem rather than solve it.
Here's what X users are saying.
And more...
Nothing to see here...
Kamalanomics = 'communist economics' as some X users describe...
"We are no longer talking about hypothetical communism, we are talking about two straight up communists who want to institute a federal price ban on food and a federal minimum wage that is going to make every corporation go out of business.
...
Voting for communism is not the solution to your precious feelings."
Something which has failed every time it is tried; from Diocletian to now!
Wage and price controls?
Yep. You can’t control price unless you control the inputs.
BTTT
Well, every generation has to try to disprove the law, supply over demand equals the price. Good luck with this. It has never worked, anywhere.
It would be far easier to kick Kamala commie and her sidekick commie to the curb.
If they control food pricing to make it go down, then they can control it to make it rise too.
Just imagine what they will want to make prices go down...or up!
Bureaucrats and politicians love wage and price controls. There is much money to be made in granting exceptions.
Maybe next, she will propose “WIN” buttons. Didn’t it work the last time?
Central planning or Communism. Not one of these Kommies have ever run a lemonade stand.
Has she put forth her 5 year plan yet?
WATCH the DOW today
SHE also wants to increase minimum wages AGAIN
I’m surprised the democrats haven’t suggested controlling prices by simply cutting two zeros off the currency. That worked well at keeping prices down in Zimbabwe.
♫ Down and down we go, ♪
♪ Round and round we go. ♫
She also wants to raise Corp taxes to 35%.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Price controls stifle production which causes shortages. Only by CUTTING TAXES. AND REGULATIONS, reducing government expenditures and encouraging businesses abd manufacturing do you drive down costs.
There is no “price gouging.”
Biden-Harris deliberately declared war on the energy industry.
Farming uses a great deal of energy to grow crops, and it takes a great deal of diesel to transport these crops to the market by truck.
Economics 101.
Check your premise. Under a capitalist system, yes this is a terrible idea and would never gain traction but we are far from operating under capitalism.
Yes. It has been tried many times, from ancient history, through medieval times, all kind of revolutionaries, kings and presidents.
It has some political appeal - kind of Robin Hood effect.
The government fighting for the people, punishing the profiteers!
It always results in shortages, black markets, extraordinary profits from black markets operators, oppression of people by the government, and overall misery.
But, do not blame the government, they had the best of intentions.
Richard Nixon in about 1971 tried Wage and & Price Controls and it did not last long as things went bad very fast. Now it would be an even bigger disaster that would cause a total disjoint of the entire economy and lead to a lot of shortages very quickly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_shock
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