US Vice President Harris will announce the first ever food price increase ban in US history today, and she may be more left-leaning than Biden on some economic policies.

According to media reports, on Friday, August 16th, Vice President of the United States and Democratic candidate Harris will announce more details about her economic agenda in a speech in North Carolina, with early reports and campaign statements about her policies suggesting she will focus on reducing food and grocery prices, addressing housing costs, and supporting the middle class.

This is the most important economic policy proposal for Harris since becoming the Democratic candidate, and she is trying to respond to the strong dissatisfaction of voters with rising prices, especially grocery prices, with a far-reaching proposal - grocery prices in the United States have remained essentially stable over the past year, rising only 1%, but have skyrocketed 26% since 2019.

The first ever food price increase ban in US history

Harris' campaign team said Wednesday that Harris would push Congress to pass a nationwide "price deception" ban within the first 100 days of taking office, covering food and groceries.

She will give the Federal Trade Commission and prosecutors the power to hold companies liable for what they consider to be deceptive pricing practices.

In addition, she will support small businesses in the industry, pay closer attention to mergers between large grocery companies, and actively investigate price manipulation in the meat supply chain.

Harris' campaign team said they would ensure that large corporations could not exploit consumers unfairly to make excessive profits, but the statement did not define what constitutes "price deception" or "excessive" profits.

Different voices in the market about the bill

According to market expectations, Harris' economic policy agenda will be similar to Biden's economic plan, but she may be more proactive in policy. Public opinion polls show that voters have a pessimistic view of Biden's handling of the economy, and while Biden is also opposed to price hikes, Harris' proposal for the FTC and prosecutors to hold companies that raise prices accountable goes beyond Biden's ideas.

Some economists believe that mandatory price controls are a counterproductive form of government intervention that could hinder companies from producing enough supply to meet demand. Brian Riedl, a senior researcher at the Manhattan Institute, said:

"This represents lazy and failed economic policies that were shown to be a disaster for the economy in the lazy and failed economic policies that were shown to be a disaster for the economy in the 1970s when price controls were proven to be a disaster, and this shows that Harris is pandering to voters on economic issues and seeking simple answers."

However, Harris' plan to deal with food and grocery prices suggests that she may be more left-leaning on some economic policies than Biden, which has won support from some. Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, said:

"It's hard not to come across examples of price deception or price manipulation in the grocery store aisle, which has cost us dearly, so it's reassuring to see the vice president introducing a series of policy proposals to combat these cheating practices and protect the wallets of Americans."

Editor/Somer