Blaming corporate greed for rising prices is not a winning argument, write Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, economist and former presidential advisor Laura Tyson, and co-author Stephen Henriques.
by Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
Yale Insights
Following her latest economic policy speech, Vice President Kamala Harris and Stephanie Ruhle discussed Harris’s economic plan, including her controversial pledge to pass a new federal law against price gouging. When pressed on how this matches her belief in the capitalist system, the vice president responded, “I am never going to apologize for going after companies and corporations that take advantage of the desperation of the American people.”
Most states, including California, have price-gouging rules that go after unjustifiable price increases on essential goods and services during emergencies such as pandemics and disruptive weather events. As California attorney general, Harris saw unscrupulous attempts to take advantage of crises and she responded. As president, she would propose comparable federal legislation. In the Ruhle interview, she went on to say that only a few companies, not the majority, engage in price gouging.