When leftists run out of alternative ideas, they dip into the stupid bucket to come up with such moldy oldies as price controls — which is just what Vice President Kamala Harris just proposed for groceries.

Price controls have been tried in many countries over many years and have consistently failed miserably. Whether on wages, gas prices, or food prices, the basic economics of price controls holds in each case and is inviolable. This is one conclusion on which virtually every reputable economist agrees regardless of political persuasion. Former Obama administration economist Jason Furman demonstrated a talent for understatement when he remarked, “This is not sensible policy.”

Harris is following in President Richard Nixon’s footsteps, though she probably does not know it. Inflation started to rise in the 1970s and Nixon responded with a temporary freeze on many wages and prices. As one would expect, the temporary freeze became an indefinite freeze and expanded in scope. (RELATED: ‘Lot Of Blah, Blah, Blah’: Larry Kudlow Says ‘No One Knows What Harris Means By Blaming Price Gouging’ For Inflation)

Over time, a growing gap developed between the frozen prices that were in effect and the prices that would obtain under normal market forces. This gap fouled the........

© The Daily Caller