Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday unveiled proposals to lower housing and food costs in her first major economic policy speech since being nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate. The proposals are part of a larger effort to create an “economy of opportunity.”
The speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, which was eagerly awaited to provide some details on broader issues Harris has addressed in her public appearances, also included some jabs at rival Republican candidate Donald Trump and his proposals.
Harris defined an “opportunity economy” as one “in which everyone is competitive and has a real chance to succeed. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they start, has the opportunity to build wealth for themselves and their children.”
The economy and especially inflation are seen as one of Harris’ biggest weaknessesalthough it has recovered quickly from the brief but sharp downturn caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While unemployment remained below 4% for much of Harris’ tenure as vice president, inflation on a 12-month basis hit a four-decade high in 2022, and voters remain concerned about how high prices have remained.
Harris’ proposals The statement presented on Friday should allay some of those concerns and give voters a new target for their anger: greedy corporations.
“If elected president, I will make it my top priority to lower costs and increase economic security for all Americans. As president, I will address the high costs that matter most to most Americans, like the cost of food,” Harris said.
“I know most businesses are creating jobs, contributing to our economy and playing by the rules, but some are not, and that’s just not right. If that’s the case, we need to take action,” she said.
She referred to proposals to punish “opportunistic companies that exploit crises” to gouge prices and to strengthen competition in the food industry.
On the issue of housing, Harris said she would “break down barriers and reduce red tape” to increase the supply of housing. Her goal is to provide three million new homes for sale or rent by the end of her first term.
She also said she would support legislation that would prevent companies that own rental properties from colluding to set prices, and she also said she would support helping first-time homebuyers buy by having the government pay $25,000 toward their homes.
Harris also said her proposals, for which she did not specify a price, would be implemented while reducing the government’s budget deficit. She did not provide details on how the proposals would be funded.
Republicans scoff at the idea that Harris will lower prices, saying she was part of the problem by pushing through President Joe Biden’s stimulus and infrastructure bills that caused prices to rise.
Before Harris’ speech, Trump posted a video on his social media page of himself and various food items that he said had seen sharp price increases.”THIS IS THE COST OF FOOD – IT’S TIME TO STOP THE DISASTER. VOTE TRUMP!” he posted.
Harris took a number of swipes at Trump’s proposals in her speech. She was most critical of his plans to impose a 10 percent tariff on imported goods. Most economists believe that this idea would drive up consumer prices.
“That will mean higher prices on virtually all of our daily needs – a Trump tax on gasoline, a Trump tax on groceries, a Trump tax on clothing, a Trump tax on over-the-counter drugs,” she said.
Initial assessments of Harris’ proposals, many details of which have not yet been announced, were mixed among Democratic allies.
Lindsay Owens, executive director of the liberal economic think tank Groundwork Collaborative, said the Biden administration has already taken some measures to curb price gouging in the food industry.
“But the government can do more to reduce concentration in the food and grocery retail sector and put an end to fraud that costs families a lot of money,” she said.
In an interview with the New York Times, however, Jason Furman, who headed the White House Economic Advisory Council under President Barack Obama, sharply criticized the ideas for combating price gouging.
“This is not sound policy and I think the biggest hope is that in the end it’s just a lot of rhetoric and no reality,” Furman said.
