Why Kamala Harris Is Actually the Best Choice To Deal with Inflation

By Dustin Rowles | Think Pieces | September 20, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | Think Pieces | September 20, 2024 |

There are two reasons why the polls in the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump remain stubbornly close: 1) A Trump base that will stand by him no matter what, and 2) the economy. The reality is that the current economy is actually very strong: The stock market hits new records every month, unemployment remains at record lows, wages are rising, the wealth gap is decreasing, inflation has been controlled, and interest rates are finally starting to fall.

For people who can afford $7 packages of bacon, that’s great news!

However, millions of Americans don’t care about the stock market, aren’t interested in mortgage rates, and couldn’t care less about the wealth gap. All they know is that it costs a lot more to feed their families now than it did in 2019. I grew up in that kind of household: I can guarantee my father never gave a single thought to the Dow Jones or the Nasdaq, but he’d notice if the brown bag special at Sonic went up a quarter. People who feel the pinch of $4.50 gallons of milk aren’t investigating the source of that inflation. They’re thinking, “Trump was President when milk cost $3.60, and Biden is President now. I’m going to vote for the guy who was President when groceries were cheaper.” Rising grocery prices are no joke, y’all. A large box of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran is $7! It’s insane!

And if you’re thinking, “How dare these people vote against Democracy, in favor of abortion restrictions, and for an immoral, corrupt old man in cognitive decline,” just stop. There is a real segment of undecided voters who care more about feeding their kids than anything else because they’re not paying attention to all the other stuff. They’re not interested in culture wars or who won the debate. They’re just tired of shaking their heads while standing at the Kroger register.

So, if the price of groceries, gas, and clothes at Target or Walmart is your top concern, who is the better presidential candidate? Kamala Harris. Now let me tell you why.

What Caused Inflation?

If you’re a Republican, you’re blaming Joe Biden’s pandemic stimulus checks for putting more money into the economy, which allowed consumers to pay higher prices, prompting corporations to raise prices. If you’re a Democrat, you’re blaming corporate greed—corporations used the pandemic as cover to raise prices beyond what was necessary.

The reality is that it’s a bit of both, plus supply chain problems, the war in Ukraine raising energy prices, and the pandemic giving employees leverage for the first time in decades to demand better wages. Corporations and small businesses then passed those higher wages onto consumers.

It’s all of these things, and it’s not necessarily the fault of either Biden’s or Trump’s policies, although I would argue that Biden’s policies prevented us from falling into a recession like much of the rest of the world.

The truth is, the price of a gallon of milk will never return to its 2019 levels. Taming inflation means prices won’t rise as quickly, but there’s no scenario (short of a deep recession) where they’ll go back down.

Our best bet now is to keep everything stable to prevent further inflation and stave off a recession. How do we do that?

Donald Trump’s Plan

Trump essentially has two policies he thinks will reduce prices: mass deportations and tariffs. He believes that if the country deports 10-15 million people, it will free up more jobs for Americans.

What Trump doesn’t consider, however, is that unemployment is already low. There’s no shortage of jobs in this country; there’s a shortage of people willing to do the kind of work that only migrant workers are willing to do: hard labor on farms, in chicken processing plants, restaurants, and manufacturing plants. Springfield, Ohio—ground zero for many baseless lies about migrant workers—is a prime example of a town that actually needed more employees for manufacturing jobs, which Haitians are now filling.

If we lose 10-15 million migrant workers, the only way to fill those necessary jobs is to pay significantly higher wages to American citizens, and those higher wages will be passed on to consumers, resulting in… more inflation.

OK, but what about tariffs? Never mind that it’s essentially a regressive tax that hurts the poor the most, tariffs will also… increase prices by their very nature. If Chinese goods are subject to a ten percent tariff, all of those costs will be passed along to consumers. Will it make it easier for American companies to compete? Maybe. But at higher prices. Plus, there are thousands of products we don’t make in America, and building the capacity to do so could take years. Meanwhile, we’re paying 10 percent more for half of our goods. That will lead, almost by design, to more inflation.

Trump’s plan is not only cruel to migrant workers but also massively counterproductive.

Kamala Harris’s Plan

The problem with Kamala Harris’s plan, and why inflation remains a thorn in her side, is that she can’t simply say, “Let’s stick with what we’re doing. It’s working!” The Inflation Reduction Act is actually working: Instead of raising the price of foreign-made cars, it’s lowering the cost of American-made electric cars and creating millions of new construction jobs.

Inflation is a complex issue (obviously) and not something that can be reduced to soundbites. Harris can’t fit a 20-minute explanation on inflation into her stump speeches. Unfortunately, she’s also not effectively communicating how her housing plan—providing a $25,000 credit to first-time home buyers—is actually good for controlling inflation.

The biggest source of inflation continues to be housing. Rent is too high and will remain so until interest rates fall (as they are) and contractors can afford to build houses again. When more houses are built, prices will drop, and the $25,000 home credit will make it easier for new buyers to enter the market, creating more incentives for contractors to build more homes, which will continue to reduce prices and lower overall inflation.

Will existing homeowners continue to see the value of their homes increase? Maybe not! But someone has to pay on the other side of this, and I’m happy to give up a small percentage of my home’s value for the good of the overall economy and a new generation of home buyers.

And that is why Kamala Harris is actually better for inflation than Donald Trump. Unfortunately, the people who need to hear this the most are also the least likely to read it because they’re too busy working the jobs they have to pay for $4 loaves of bread.