August 12–18, 2024
The economy and inflation are key issues in the 2024 presidential election. Harris-Walz economic proposals build on the economic policies of the Biden-Harris administration.
Biden-Harris efforts to reduce inflation have been successful. The July consumer-price index showed an annual rate of inflation of 2.9 percent, the lowest rate in three years. Prices are high, but they are getting higher at a slower rate. And the US has been doing better than other countries in recovering from post-pandemic inflation.
The Biden-Harris administration negotiated lower prices on life-saving prescription drugs. The Harris-Walz team plans to continue with these efforts, lowering healthcare costs and reducing household medical debt.
Harris and Walz plan to address high housing costs with proposals for increasing new construction, offering credits to first-time home buyers, expanding programs for rental assistance, and banning rental price-fixing.
High prices for many goods and services are due in part to industrial concentration. Firms with few competitors have market power and can raise prices at will. The economy benefits from fair, competitive markets.
A key aspect of the Harris-Walz economic proposals is regulations to reign in the excesses of large corporations. These proposals include a federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be encouraged to impose harsh penalties on firms that violate regulations about pricing.
With a focus on workers, small business, and growing the middle class, Harris and Walz will be promoting what they call an “opportunity economy.” Their proposals stand in stark contrast to Trump’s plans to raise tariffs on imported goods, which would raise prices for many consumer goods.
Free and fair markets foster lower prices, higher wages, and technological innovation, as Lina Khan explains:
The federal government plays a critical role in protecting free markets, the free press, and the right to privacy. The government works on behalf of consumers as well as technology entrepreneurs. It supports workers by issuing rules against non-compete clauses in employment contracts. Enforcement of antitrust, consumer protection, and fair labor laws is central to the work of the FTC.
In recent months, FTC Chair Lina Khan as been interviewed by Senator Bernie Sanders, John Stewart, Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times, and Faiz Shakir of More Perfect Union.
Under Lina Khan’s leadership, the FTC has been addressing economic injustice arising from corporate power in America. She has proven to be a strong advocate for aggressively applying antitrust laws against large pharmaceuticals and drug distributors, as well as agriculture, food manufacturing, and grocery distributors. The FTC has been especially active in confronting BigTech firms, including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google. (Note the recent antitrust ruling in U.S. v. Google.)
Check out Khan’s presentation at the Stanford Institute for Economic and Policy Research: Is Antitrust Policy Good for Innovation?.
The FTC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) play key roles in fostering competition and protecting consumers.
Republicans use the economy and inflation to attack Democratic administrations. Lina Khan provides the counterpunch. Lina Khan may well be the Democrats’ secret weapon.
Contemporary Thinking about Regulation #
- Khan, Lina M. 2017, January. “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox.” Yale Law Journal. 126 (3): 710–805. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Available online.
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