There’s a lot of crazy name-calling in this presidential campaign, and among the worst is numerous Republican claims that “Comrade” Harris’s attack on price gouging is “pro-Soviet” or “communistic” and leads to price controls. It shows that the Trump-Vance ticket and its supporters are just tossing out red meat rather than seriously addressing her proposal.  Capitalism depends on honest competition to keep prices low. But when two producers connive to pad their profit margin by agreeing not to compete with each other, they’re actually undermining the natural competition that capitalism depends on. And, it’s inflationary. Harris’s critics call any efforts to police price gougers as “big government socialism.” But the reality is that sometimes capitalistic competition needs a “referee” to keep the “game” (i.e. market) honest. That makes the free market akin to football. Refs keep the game honest. The game needs them. Who’ll keep the free market honest without the government to make sure the system works fairly for consumers?  In the game of politics, we the voters end up as the referees. It’s up to us to call the fouls or be the fools they take us for.

– James Conger, University of Iowa alumnus