Just four companies in the U.S. control: 85% of beef processing 80% of corn seed distribution 77% of fertilizer production 69% of grocery sales Wondering why food prices are so high? Minimal competition means maximized price-gouging.

Senator Cotton’s home state of Arkansas has a law against corporate price gouging. I’m curious if he thinks his state has turned into Venezuela as a result?

Companies that make a killing thanks to a shortage are not in a rush to overcome the shortage, who would have thought? If you are trying to make sense of why price gouging is a problem but are stuck in Econ101, go listen to Lindsay Owens! cnbc.com/video/2024/08/…

The food industry “pushes back” against Harris’s price gouging plan by asserting … checks notes … that record profit margins are needed to “fund the development of new products” such as meats and eggs and potato chips.

“If banning price gouging is communist, then the U.S. went Marxist long ago. Most of us live in states that already have bans in place.” Emily Peck Terrific coverage, bringing an unhinged debate back to planet earth. axios.com/2024/08/20/pri…

“Our merchants & master-manufacturers complain much of the bad effects of high wages in raising the price. They say nothing concerning the bad effects of high profits. They are silent with regard to the pernicious effects of their own gains.” Adam Smith, 1776

When disasters are the best of times for corporate profits, there is little hope for resilience. That’s why anti-price gouging laws are essential economic policy in a world of emergencies. They are necessary guardrails even when inflation is easing.

Harris’s fight against price gouging is good economics. It is also popular. This shows Americans have common sense. All of the efforts of free-market economists to beat it out of them have not worked. James Galbraith and me The Boston Globe

Dear Editorial Pages, Before publishing another silly YIMBY theory about intransigent elevator unions or onerous building codes, please consider the price-fixing ring prosecuted by the DOJ as the most obvious explainer of rental inflation. Sincerely, Your former subscribers

Oh wow no one could have predicted this one

Spent this morning in White Oak at the Rappahannock Education Farm planting kale with my son. The farm has donated over 1,600 pounds of fresh produce this year to fight food insecurity in our region. So proud to support my friends who are leading this effort.

We’ve seen far too many rural hospitals shutter. Rural communities need comprehensive access to health care, so I’m championing legislation like my Save Rural Hospitals Act and Keeping Obstetrics Local Act to make sure more Virginians maintain access to care.

I'm tired of living through the direct-to-video sequel to the Gilded Age.

Love it when intellectual movements emerge organically on university campuses through the free exchange and meritocratic debate of ideas among the youth lpeproject.org/blog/the-great…

Working in public service, it's easy to get jaded. You see the little guy take it on the chin one too many times while the red carpet gets rolled out time and again for the corporations. Not this time. Goodbye Navient. No one will mourn you.

One of my favorite parts of living in FXBG is that you can take two steps off the beaten path and find yourself in a field of soybeans, an old growth forest, or the site of a Civil War battle. It's not all warehouses and traffic jams. There's natural beauty here worth protecting.

NEW / Coming to your screens tomorrow (previewed by Ben Smith): Barry Lynn penned Harper's Magazine October cover story on the progress of our antitrust revolution and the radical changes still needed in order to preserve liberal democracy.

Proverbs 1:20-33 reminds us to heed wisdom and reject the ways of the mockers who hold their mocking dear. This is disgusting, and all the "what abouts" don't make it any better. I'm sure we'll keep seeing this tweet until the election.

Everywhere I go in the Commonwealth, I hear the same two things: child care and housing are too dang expensive. We need real solutions, which is why I’m championing a wide range of bills to expand the child tax credit, help folks afford homes, and increase the housing supply.

In a shock to literally no one, Big Tech is lying about how much their data centers are polluting the environment.