The two were discussing their plans to combat big corporations' decisions to excessively increase the price of goods.
Weber first floated the idea in an opinion column in The Guardian in 2021, writing that one reason inflation was so high at the time - 7% by the year's end - was because corporations were enjoying an "Explosion in profits" as they saw an opportunity to boost their prices more than necessary under the cover of the very real supply-and-demand problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its researchers identified three major components of price increases for goods and services: labor cost, non-labor cost, and corporate profit.
From 1979-2019, labor accounted for an average of 61.8% of price increases, non-labor was responsible for 26.8%, and corporate profits were a light 11.4%. From the second quarter of 2020 to the end of 2021, EPI researchers found that labor accounted for a mere 7.9%, non-labor made up 38.3%, and corporate profits were responsible for 53.9% of price increases for goods and services.
While some prices have come down, the pandemic seems to have acted as a market reset: It offered a once-in-a-generation opportunity for companies to raise their prices to a new normal and never look back.
Casey is one politician calling for such price controls.
His Price Gouging Prevention Act would protect American families from greedflation by creating a "New federal ban on grossly excessive price increases, and authoriz[ing] the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to enforce the ban." In the same State of the Union address where Biden lauded his economic accomplishments, he promised to crack down on price gouging and "Deceptive pricing." "Pass Bobby Casey's bill and stop this," Biden said.
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