Kamala Harris’s economic policy is completely idiotic

She didn’t have to slog around New Hampshire, there were no debates, and there were few opportunities for voters or journalists to ask Kamala Harris any questions. The Democratic nomination for President fell into her lap when it became painfully clear that Joe Biden was far too old and too unwell to run for a second term. That may turn out to be very lucky, at least for her. Later today, Harris will unveil her first new policy of the campaign. The trouble is this: it is completely idiotic.

After a campaign that has so far been strong on vibes, and weak on anything that vaguely resembles a detailed plan for government, Harris will make what has been billed as the first major policy speech of her run for the presidency in Raleigh, North Carolina, today. In reality, she needs to say something. Despite all the lavish spending, and respectable growth, “Bidenomics” has not proved popular with the voters, and the economy may well prove her weak spot in the autumn.

Her big idea? She wants to legislate against “price gouging,” with the Federal Trade Commission awarded extra power to investigate food prices, and to impose penalties on manufacturers and retailers who are judged to have put up prices unfairly. She will rail against “greedflation” and promise that her administration will get tough. Seriously?

In reality, price legislation is a ridiculous idea. To start with, the government never “knows” what the right price for anything happens to be. Supply may have changed, competitors may have joined or left the market. Or demand may have surged. Who knows how much a hot dog or box of cookies should cost? Next, we have hundreds of years of economic history to tell us that controlling prices has a 100 percent record of creating shortages and supply bottlenecks. There is no reason to expect it to be any different this time around. And finally, she conveniently ignores the fact that running one of the largest deficits in peacetime history may have a lot more to do with stoking inflation than “greedy” corporate bosses.

Over the last few weeks, Harris has dropped her radical, far-left policies from her 2020 campaign. She no longer wants to ban fracking, one of the US’s largest industries, for example — at least not yet. But she has replaced them with a jumble of half-baked ideas. In reality, she does not have a clue how to fix the economy — and that will soon be painfully clear.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.