Letter to the editor: Harris' grocery gouging ban makes no sense

So one of the latest big ideas coming from the mind of presidential candidate Kamala Harris is to impose price controls on groceries. Let’s take a closer look:

A typical profit margin for a supermarket operator is on the order of 1% to 2% (let’s assume 2% to be extra gouge-y). If a grocer were to completely forgo his profit and sell a $3 item at cost, the final price would come to … $2.94. Who exactly is this benefiting? Answer: Primarily the politicians who manage to convince people that price controls are a good idea, for the purpose of winning votes. Even though history shows that such controls tend to result in shortages and, yes, higher prices.

Now, let’s consider the state/federal government’s “profit margin” per gallon of gasoline, which is $0.184 federal tax plus $0.587 Pennsylvania state tax (the second- highest in the country, behind California). This comes to $0.771, which at the current price of $3.35/gallon, is a “profit margin” of 23%.

Now who’s gouging?

Jeff Novotny

Mesa, Ariz.

The writer is a Latrobe native.