Kamalanomics contains too much of some good things

Home stretch. Kamala Harris is planting seeds for U.S. growth, but she might kill some crops in the process. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, describes the economy as a garden, rather than a jungle: tend it well and reap the harvest. Her just-emerging agenda includes helping break ground on more U.S. housing and squashing higher food prices. At the same time, spreading price caps and goodies for shoppers risks sowing inflation.

In a speech planned for later on Friday, Harris is set to unveil ways to support the construction of new homes. They include a combination of tax incentives for builders and buyers alongside ways for local governments to streamline cumbersome zoning laws. In many ways, the ideas simply supersize President Joe Biden’s priorities.

He has called for 2 million new homes; Harris is pushing for a million more. Biden proposed a $20 billion fund to cut red tape; his vice president will seek $40 billion. This supply-focused approach, regardless of how big, is sensible: The country’s chronic housing shortage has become severe, at 4.5 million homes, according to online marketplace Zillow. The real estate industry also has backed the administration’s initiatives to spur the rewriting of municipal rules on how land can be used.

The demand side of Kamalanomics is more vote-seeking than sound policy. She intends to roll out yet-unspecified ways to target corporate “price gouging,” especially in groceries. Any such controls would have to go through Congress, and there’s little sign that a full-fledged 1970s-style approach is in the offing, mostly because of the stagflation sparked by ensuing shortages and discouraged competition. A generous $25,000 subsidy to first-time home-buyers from Harris threatens to jack up prices, too.

Encouraging consumers to spend isn’t always bad and can have substantive effects. Harris, for example, is championing the revival of the expanded child tax credit enacted temporarily in 2021. In just one year, the policy cut child poverty to 5.2%, the lowest rate ever. Making it permanent could lead to significantly better outcomes for poor kids, providing a long-term boon for the country. Like successfully cultivating backyard plants, it takes a green thumb to keep the U.S. economy from wilting and to make it blossom instead.