The vice president is leaning into an effort to partly blame big companies for inflation, as progressives have pushed her to embrace that argument.According to The New York Times, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver a speech on Friday outlining her economic agenda, which will include a call for a federal ban on corporate price gouging on groceries. This move is aimed at holding big companies accountable for the consistently high costs of consumer staples in America.

The plan shares many similarities with the Biden administration’s efforts to address corporate consolidation and price gouging, such as promoting competition in the meat industry and the recent FTC lawsuit against the merger of Kroger and Albertsons. It also aligns with Harris’s strategy to shift the blame for high inflation onto corporate America, a message that has resonated with voters, including independents who could sway the upcoming election.

Progressive groups have been urging President Biden and now Harris to fully embrace this argument. The specifics of how a price-gouging ban would be enforced and which corporate behaviors would be outlawed have not been disclosed. However, Harris’s campaign officials have stated that she plans to implement a federal ban within her first 100 days in office, along with harsh penalties for corporations found to be fixing prices. She also intends to allocate more resources towards investigating price-gouging in the meat supply chain and closely scrutinizing proposed grocery mergers.

In addition to the price-gouging ban, Harris is expected to unveil plans on Friday related to housing costs and prescription drug prices. While many states have laws against price gouging, there is currently no federal ban in place. 

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