Kamala Harris says she will go after price gouging, what do you think about it?

How do you measure gouging?
when the markup exceeds 200%.?

Pretty sure taking money from rich people isn’t gonna go over well.

Why would they let the “DEI hire” actually have power?

Depends on how much the republicans hamstring her from doing her job.

Price fixing.

I think it’s a talking point designed to deflect away from the real reason prices are high. There are no specific examples of price gouging ever given. She presents it as “those _____ people screwing the little people” but leaves it up to the listener to fill in the blank. The entire concept is predicated on the idea that price gouging suddenly popped up when she and Joe took office.

If price gouging was really going on, you should be able to point to specific examples. And if you could do that, it isn’t a job for the POTUS to deal with. It would be the job of a state AG or even a local DA to deal with. By pushing this to the POTUS level, you are hinting that the federal government will start controlling production and distribution of all goods and services in the country. You know…Socialism.

I don’t know how much control a President would have over prices. Under the capitalist system, the businesses can price things and the market ultimately determines what the market can bear, meaning, when prices get too high, people stop buying. For example, soda sales went down so the soda manufacturers had to lower the price somewhat and/or people just switched to other drinks.

I agree with @seawulf575 and @SQUEEKY2 here.

Gouging usually refers to taking advantage of consumers during an emergency situation. She said in her statement it’s a select few not all companies. I have argued for 30 years that healthcare should fall under gouging law restrictions.

The FTC has been going after unfair practices like monopolistic or collusion.

One of those things that is said but there is no follow-through intention. It’s empty, undefined and just election pillow talk. I wish it wasn’t though.

Do you mean price gouging like happens when gas prices skyrocket during a holiday or big event nearby? Yeah, correcting that’s not gonna happen.

Let’s look at it this way: Let’s take groceries as a perfect example. Price gouging, driving the prices up to make a killing for pure profit, could be possible. If every grocery store chain in the entire country all colluded to do it all to the same amount. Does anyone believe that is happening?

Despite @seawulf575‘s assertion that price gouging doesn’t go on, I give you two examples:

!. Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli. jacked up the price of a life-saving medication by roughly 4,000% after obtaining exclusive rights to the drug.

2. Caremark, Express Scripts, Optum, and their affiliates created a broken rebate system that inflated insulin drug prices. That case is being litigated.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there were numerous reports of businesses significantly raising the prices of gasoline, food, and water. In some areas, the price of bottled water quadrupled overnight, leading to widespread outrage and legal action.

Similarly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, hand sanitizers, masks, and other protective equipment saw prices soar as demand skyrocketed, prompting investigations and fines for companies found guilty of price gouging.

^After Katrina, good old GWB, abandoned the poor, elderly, and/or sickly.

Trump was NOT a fair man, during his term either. He famously went on and on about not giving federal money for wildfires in CA, because it’s a blue state. It’s pretty clear, if he could have, he’d had let the state burn.
On his second stint, he will be even more pompous. And of course “revenge” is basically what Trump will prioritize over anything else.
He’ll NEVER miss an opportunity, to try to make life worse for those who didn’t support him. Yes. Because he’s a narcissistic, and insecure little baby man…

15 hours ago, Bernie Sanders calls out Wegovy, Ozempic CEO for price gouging as well.

Anyone pretending to not know these basic tenets is feigning ignorance for their own ulterior motive.

^That’s a big strategy for many Trump supporters. Being deliberately obtuse, about things they cause, while simultaneously proclaiming their succinct understanding of problems they wish to blame on the left.

And let’s not forget the ongoing battle against landlords using a program to raise rent that uses a national average instead of their own regional average.

Why would Arizona need to match the rent of NYC?

Recently in Canada, we had a bread fixing scheme from the big box stores. They were fined ~$34 million dolllars.

RDG. I don’t think large fines, ever really are more than the profits an immoral corporation gets from being sleazy.

Pharmaceutical companies, for example, seem to have an obvious strategy; make billions off of a drug we know is harmful, then pay millions in damages years later. They still come out, very much on top.

Some of the wealthiest corporations, made record profits, during Covid.
THAT is the problem. The wealthy profit, from tragedy.
So. I guess it would be stupid, not to keep the world in constant crisis….

I own Novo Nordisk (Ozembic) stock. I probably lost money today after reading @Blackberry’s post above. I have no idea what Ozembic costs the final consumer or their insurance companies.

After Katrina flights roundtrip from Memphis to Gulf Port, Mississippi were $750 round trip for over a year. Huge gouge in my opinion.

In Florida I very rarely see any gouging in stores or gas stations during hurricanes. Prices do go up when demand is up during big tourist times of year, but I wouldn’t call it rising to the level of a gouging price.

I do think hotel and resort prices were out of control 2022, 2023, for the bounce once everything opened after covid, and moderating now, but still high. We had I bet millions of tourists from the UK to Disney, and from what I understand the UK gave even more money than the US to “stay home.” Maybe now that people spent through their extra money it will correct some more. My biggest gripe is extremely high resort and parking fees. Parking fees punish locals.

Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes has done reports on cancer drugs raising prices because a new drug enters the market and gets a much higher price. That to me is borderline collusion and it is gouging in my opinion since the person has the natural disaster or cancer.

60 Minutes this past Sunday had the FTC chair talking about monopolistic behaviors, it was really good, maybe you can see it on demand. She was on Jon Stewart too, I’ve linked that before. Here it is again: https://youtu.be/oaDTiWaYfcM?si=nFkmwaUvK787xZ2D

@zenvelo Yep, two Pharma examples. But that isn’t what Kamala is running on. When she is asked, given so many people are struggling with high prices everywhere, what are you going to do to lower prices? She totes out the “price gouging” talking point. She doesn’t list any specifics and doesn’t identify big pharma at all. And those two examples could be sued by state AG’s or even the federal AG since big pharma screws the USA consistently.

@seawulf575 There are probably hundreds of pharma examples. Gilead’s Hep C drug, remember the EpiPen story, HIV medication, the list goes on. I agree with you, I haven’t hears Harris mention pharma under gouging, I don’t know if Harris includes medications under gouging, probably not. Traditionally, it hasn’t been included as far as I know. That has been my personal suggestion to take a healthcare case up through the courts on the basis of gouging laws.

Opportunistic behavior is a problem. It’s easy to raise prices when at any given time half the population is practically happy to complain about it. Politics is ruining this country.

Bernie Sanders is a little late – it was published everywhere a number of months ago that it was discovered that it only takes $3–5 to make a month’s worth of Ozempic and they charge people around $1,200.

@seawulf575 And those two examples could be sued by state AG’s or even the federal AG since big pharma screws the USA consistently.

3 big pharmas are being sued. I guess you missed my Q from 5 days ago:

Did you read that the FTC is suing CVS, Cigna and United Health?

Since Ozembic is an old drug, they didn’t need to formulate it, just test it for a new use. Pharma companies do this all of the time, and I think it’s wrong to charge exorbitant prices.

Other than pharmaceuticals, and gasoline in the event of a disaster such as a hurricane, does the President have the ability to change prices for things like eggs, milk, beef and other things that many people consider to be staples? When there were high prices for eggs about a year ago, due to bird flu, and some markets were charging 8 dollars a dozen, that’s an example that I’m thinking of. Does the President have the ability to change that? I don’t think so but it’s very possible I’m incorrect.

I think I saw that Ozembic prices are ten times higher in USA than Germany. WTAF

@JLeslie It’s not that old, but you’re right, they get approved for other uses all the time.

“Jesper Lau, Vice President of Diabetes Protein and Peptide Chemistry at Novo Nordisk is credited with the invention and development of Semaglutide in 2012.”

@smudges Old enough that it’s been proven to be safe, but you’re right it’s not very very old. It’s probably coming up on the patent ending so a new use extend the patent so to speak. Very typical.

I’ve been saying for years lots of Americans are probably undiagnosed diabetics. We don’t test regularly to see spikes after eating, we just test fasting, and now they test A1c which I guess is helpful. It’s no surprise diabetes medication helps people lose weight. Then you have women who are given diabetic drugs when they can’t get pregnant due to not ovulating, and once they have their baby they stop taking the drug. Obviously, they need the drug.

@jca2 I think the government doesn’t need to step in in those cases, I think Americans need to be more educated in the power of the people. Don’t pay the high price. Those staples aren’t actually dire if you don’t have them a few days or weeks. The market might get over-regulated.

It’s Ozempic, not Ozembic.

Thanks.

@JLeslie and @smudges I agree that big pharma does price gouging. That isn’t an argument. But when Kamala talks about price gouging, she is talking about price gouging on groceries and gasoline and homes and everything else that people are fed up with. The price gouging discussion comes up every time she is asked what she is going to do about prices of everything being so high. She has a different talking point for big pharma because she focuses in on insulin.

It was the insulin prices that got the lawsuit against CVS, et al. But those companies are not the big pharma companies. They are the middlemen. The basis of that lawsuit, as I understand it, is that the big pharma companies basically bribed these companies to not cover the lower cost insulin. It hits me as showing corruption that the briber is left alone and the bribee is sued. They should both be sued in my book.

Big pharma has been price gouging the USA for decades. They sell the same products to other nations for a fraction of what they charge in the USA. It is their business model and it works for them largely, I suspect, because they buy votes in congress.

@seawulf575 I am interested to find out more about the pharmacy lawsuit, I really don’t know the details. What you said makes sense, although I would say CVS is not a bribee, but rather complicit in the sting on the American people. Actually, so is insurance if we look at it from the perspective that all of these parties are making profits and hoping no one does anything about it and just keeps paying high premiums and out of pocket.

The more I think about the staple foods, the more I wonder if there should be limits, but I would worry there are work arounds. Keeping every day items within reasonable limits is the best way to help every day people as long as companies are still making a profit. It is better than more taxes or higher wages in my opinion, BUT there is a free market side to me that worries about too much interference by the government.

As far as housing, the problem was interest rates went too low, we can certainly prevent that from happening. We could take out some of the investor tax advantages for real estate too. I saw Harris was talking about building housing, but I don’t know any details. I want to know the plan inside and out before I say I like it. Where is the money coming from? Where are they building such housing? How much will the housing cost the government? Who is building the housing? It could be good if done well, or could be horrible to the real estate market, and affect many other things too. We need details. I would guess the government already spends money on shelters and section 8, and there might be a better way to allocate the money. I am worried there will be profit in it and have all sorts of unpredicted consequences.

I tend to be fiscally moderate, or that is how I see myself.

Politics today is exhausting. So tired of the extremes, so tired of the lies. So tired of the hate. The current politics in America really could ruin the country.

@JLeslie From what I gathered with the lawsuit, the big pharma companies actually paid the companies being sued to not cover the lower cost insulin. So CVS and the others would all be the bribees. The pharma companies that paid them to do this should be held accountable. But I’m too old to hold my breath waiting for that.

Here’s the problem with trying to control costs: you are screwing someone in the process. The Biden administration made all sorts of moves right out of the gate to undo all of the changes Trump made. One of these involved oil production. They put us at the mercy of foreign oil again. Gasoline prices shot up and still haven’t come back down. They are still at least 50% higher than what they inherited. Gasoline prices go up, the cost of growing food goes up, the cost of transporting the food goes up…the domino effect is enormous. And those same increase impact the people that have to drive to a store to buy the groceries. Add to that the Inflation Reduction Act that added trillions of garbage money to the economy and you see that each dollar is worth significantly less than it was. So it takes more dollars now to meet the same value as a lesser number that they inherited. Their garbage policies lead to the crisis we have now. It led to all the increased prices. If you suddenly say that grocery stores can’t sell a head of lettuce for more than $1, someone is getting screwed. The overall effect will be a complete stoppage of products getting to market. If it costs more than $1 to grow that head of lettuce, get it picked, get it shipped, and get it marketed (sold), then lettuce will stop being sent to the stores. It makes no sense for someone to lose money to provide a product because the government is screwed up.

Harris has only talking points that sound good, but fall apart under any scrutiny at all. She proposed giving 1st time home buyers $25,000 to put towards a down payment. That sounds wonderful. Except that is a lot of tax dollars that will have to go to pay for this and all that will happen is that housing prices will go up by at least $25,000 dollars. If you notice, when she starts to present an idea, she couches it only with some crisis that she and Joe created and then only gives one side of the consequences of that plan. That is why she entirely avoids unscripted interviews and gives no press conferences. She cannot defend a single thing she says.

I’m waiting for someone to answer, if they know, if the President has the power to lower prices for every day items like eggs, beef, soda, etc.

Not gasoline during a storm, not pharmaceuticals, just every day food items. My impression was this was what Harris was referring to.

Presidents and local politicians have spoken out during storms, about price gouging re: things like gas prices. We know that there’s been success with things like insulin and other medications.

@seawulf575 Controlling prices is absolutely ok with me for some things. Regulations should be in line with if a company had integrity the regulation is what they would do anyway. In other words, if they charge a reasonable price the regulation is not an issue.

@jca2 I have no idea if a president actually has the power to control staple goods prices. I would GUESS that maybe congress can pass a law that manufacturers, wholesalers, or retailers can only charge 2 times or 3 times their own cost, something like that. Something to limit the price. I’m just guessing though. Biden has been asking companies to not take advantage of people by charging high prices, he seems to be asking for companies to think twice and do the right thing. Plus, I think he has been trying to the American public that companies are taking advantage and be smart about where you spend your money.

There are already a ton of laws on the books for each state that are not being followed or enforced. I don’t see federal laws being much different.

@jca2 That is a tougher question to answer than you might think. Can the POTUS just randomly set prices for groceries? No. That is not one of the powers of the government. However there may be emergency authorizations they can enact to prevent price gouging during a major emergency.

I just looked at what the White House/Biden/Harris offered as their solution. They are wanting to give more SNAP benefits to low income people, they want grocery stores to voluntarily lower their prices, and they have a whole lot of words about promoting competition with farmers, though how they plan on getting that is a mystery to me. Small farmers cannot compete with big farmers on production costs. So either you force big producers to lower costs (which doesn’t seem to be in the plan) or you pay small farmers more for their produce to artificially create competition.

Another one of their plans seems to be attacking shrinkflation. This one hits me as being almost counterproductive to lowering cost. Manufacturers have shrunk the size of things to try keeping the price the same or to have it go up less quickly. By attacking shrinkflation you will likely find prices skyrocketing again as the manufacturers start selling the bigger quantities.

All this is basic Socialism, what Biden/Harris are suggesting. They want the government to control production and distribution of goods and services.

I just read an article in the NY Times today about restaurants planning to offer smaller portion sizes, because often, we can’t eat all of what they give us in restaurants. I’m thinking they want to offer smaller sizes and keep prices the same, which is bullshit. Smaller portion sizes, high meal prices plus big tips are expected? No thanks. I know that’s not totally what the OP is referring to, but it was interesting that it’s something similar that’s in the works now.

@jca2 I’ve said for a long time I wish restaurant portions were smaller and lower prices. It won’t surprise me if the prices stay high. One thing I really find annoying is dinner prices being higher than lunch for the exact same meal same size.

I wouldn’t expect a half portion to be half price for a hot entree, because you still need to prepare it. Some things are cooked on the spot needing some skill, other things like lasagna, you just heat it up simple.

Restaurants have been helping to make America fat with portion size and added fat for satiety and also salt content is often extremely high.

I think it fits the question, because it has to do with how much profit a business makes.

The comments in the NY Times article mentioned the things you just said, @JLeslie. They talked about a large portion of the price of a restaurant meal being labor and not food cost, and some comments were about Americans being too fat, like smaller restaurant portions would be the answer.

I still say if the price remains the same but the portion size gets smaller, and then they want a big tip on top of it, there may be less people going out to eat. One commenter mentioned how a restaurant meal used to be a rare treat and now it’s something people do several times a week. I know when I was little, we were solidly middle class, so not hurting for money in any way, but we only went out to eat maybe a few times a year. Otherwise, when relatives visited from out of state, someone put a roast beef in the oven and made all the sides and that’s what we did. Nowadays, chances are good that a meal like that would be had at a restaurant instead.

I’d welcome smaller portions in restaurants but agree it would be nice if the price dropped a bit too. Idon’t eat out that much since I’m single again so it’s not that significant a cost to me.

@jca2 I hope if they do small portions and same high prices people stop eating at those restaurants. I don’t understand how or why people keeping paying extremely high prices? You know I live near Orlando, a big tourist spot, and I think the money given to people during covid really created a ton of inflation on flights, hotels, and restaurants. People from the UK were coming here in droves once they were allowed, and I know the UK government was generous to their people to help them stay home. In the US there was a lot of extra money given out also (I should probably have applied for unemployment, I know people who received a lot of money).

Many people will spend if they have it rather than say, “no way, I don’t care how much money I have I won’t pay that.”