That’s the only conclusion I can draw after listening to a clip on Megyn Kelly’s show. Kamala never took an economics course while she was at Howard University. The transcript follows the audio clip.
 Megyn Kelly |
 Vice President Kamala Harris (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) |
(Look at the end for a more robust pdf version of the transcript.)
Megyn Kelly 00:00
There is no evidence that these grocers are doing that. And she never gets pressed on that. Her surrogate got pressed on it by Sandra Smith over on Fox News the other day, and had no answer. It was actually pretty remarkable. But she gets asked the price gouging question, and here’s how she answered it. Watch this.
Stephanie Ruhle 00:20
Prices are still high. I agree with you. You said you want to take this on by going after those who engage in price gouging. But as somebody who supports free markets, who’s a capitalist. How do you go after price gouging without implementing price controls? Because once we get in the zone, people start to get worried, and they say, I don’t know what she stands for.
VP Kamala Harris 00:41
So just to be very frank, I am never going to apologize for going after companies and corporations that take advantage of the desperation of the American people. And I, as Attorney General, I saw this happen in the midst of an emergency, whether it be an extreme weather event or even the pandemic we saw it. Where those few companies, not the majority, not most, but those few companies that would take advantage of the desperation of people and jack up prices, yeah, I’m going to go after them. Yes, I’m going to go after them.
Megyn Kelly 01:21
Okay, so she’s trying to be tough. But the question was, “As someone who supports free markets,” Rhules, talking about herself, who’s a capitalist, how do you go after price gouging without implementing price controls? You, as the magic-wanded commander in chief, saying, “Bread shall now be the following price, milk shall revert back to $3.” How do you do that without implementing price controls?
Got that? Kamala promises to reign in inflation by imposing price ceilings. Her utter lack of understanding of supply and demand is embodied in this:
I saw this happen in the midst of an emergency, whether it be an extreme weather event or even the pandemic we saw it. Where those few companies, not the majority, not most, but those few companies that would take advantage of the desperation of people and jack up prices, yeah, I’m going to go after them. Yes, I’m going to go after them.
It happens that natural disasters are used frequently teaching economics to illustrate the role of prices and the impact of price controls. During a natural disaster, the available quantity of most items is drastically reduced. This is a shift to the left of the supply curve – a decrease in supply. The market rations the limited supply with a higher price. The equilibrium price is likely to very high, especially for stuff people need to survive: water, ice, fuel, etc. (Those are items with inelastic demand.) The natural instinct of politicians like Kamala is to regulate the price. That does not solve the problem, as quantity demanded still exceeds quantity supplied. The result is usually black markets and other semi-legal non-price rationing mechanisms.
Suppose price controls were not imposed. The extremely price would induce profit-seeking individuals outside the disaster area to truck in the now-very-valuable items. That increases supply and reduces the equilibrium price below the peak price. Economically, it would be better for the government to simply supply the products to the public, paying the cost of transporting the goods from outside the disaster area. But that would cost the government money. Far more convenient to blame greedy capitalists, impose price controls, and leave the voters to suffer.
Notes about the transcript and audio:
- I have done my best to edit the transcript to match the audio. Transcription services via Otter.ai.
- I have only edited the audio to trim extraneous material from the beginning and end. Beyond that, I have removed noise from the segments where no one is speaking.
