What to know about Kamala Harris’s economic plan, from grocery prices to the child tax credit

Emma HinchliffeBy Emma HinchliffeMost Powerful Women Editor
Emma HinchliffeMost Powerful Women Editor

Emma Hinchliffe is Fortune’s Most Powerful Women editor, overseeing editorial for the longstanding franchise. As a senior writer at Fortune, Emma has covered women in business and gender-lens news across business, politics, and culture. She is the lead author of the Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter (formerly the Broadsheet), Fortune’s daily missive for and about the women leading the business world.

By Nina AjemianNewsletter Curation Fellow
Nina AjemianNewsletter Curation Fellow

    Nina Ajemian is the newsletter curation fellow at Fortune and works on the Term Sheet and MPW Daily newsletters.

    Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris shared her economic agenda at a speech in Raleigh, N.C.
    Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris shared her economic agenda at a speech in Raleigh, N.C.
    Grant Baldwin—Getty Images

    Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The Ivy League has a glass ceiling, Paetongtarn Shinawatra will be Thailand’s youngest prime minister, and Kamala Harris reveals her economic agenda. Have a productive Monday!

    – Talking economics. Kamala Harris unveiled her economic plan on Friday, a month into her campaign as the presumed Democratic presidential nominee. It was her first major policy speech before her party convenes at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week.

    The plan positions Harris as a candidate focused on the economic well-being of middle-class voters. In a speech in Raleigh, N.C., she called her vision the “opportunity economy,” which she defined as a mix of creating circumstances in which everyone has an equal chance to earn wealth and compete as well as removing red tape to support new businesses and innovation.

    Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris shared her economic agenda at a speech in Raleigh, N.C.
    Grant Baldwin—Getty Images

    Here’s what to know about her proposals:

    —In an idea that’s gotten the most attention and some pushback, Harris proposed regulating “corporate price-gouging” on groceries. Following a period of high inflation, Harris says she would give the Federal Trade Commission authority to “to investigate and impose strict new penalties on companies” that “run up excessive profits.” Some economists question whether the proposal goes against basic supply and demand.

    —The vice president proposed a $6,000 child tax credit for families with newborns. The current child tax credit is set to drop to $1,000 by 2025. This idea has some bipartisan momentum. GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance—who has already created controversy with his “childless cat ladies” comments, part of his view that people should have more children—has floated a $5,000 child tax credit.

    —Harris’s policies also include up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time and first-generation homebuyers, part of her overall affordable housing policies.

    —She aims to continue the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce prescription drug costs.

    As my colleague Geoff Colvin wrote for Fortune in July, business can expect higher tariffs on American imports under either a Harris or Trump presidency. However, the candidates differ on several other key issues for businesses including immigration, labor, and regulation.

    Emma Hinchliffe
    emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

    The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.

    ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

    - Ivy ceiling. With Minouche Shafik’s resignation from Columbia, the short-lived era in which the Ivy League was predominantly led by women comes closer to its end. Four of six female Ivy League presidents have stepped down, and three have been replaced by white men. Chronicle of Higher Education

    - Next generation. Paetongtarn Shinawatra will become the youngest prime minister of Thailand at 37 years old. Shinawatra, daughter of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra and family member of a political dynasty, will be Thailand’s second female prime minister. CNN

    - On the waitlist. Demand was so high for Kristin Juszczyk's custom NFL clothing earlier this year that she turned down Vice President Kamala Harris’s request for a piece before the San Francisco 49ers played in the Super Bowl. Juszczyk, wife of 49ers player Kyle Juszczyk, has since signed a licensing deal with the NFL as her designs have taken off. Forbes

    - Abortion updates. Montana’s Supreme Court ruled that minors can get abortions in the state without permission from their parents, according to the AP. In Arizona, voters will decide on the right to abortion within the state. The state’s supreme court ruled that the term “unborn human beings” can be used in informational pamphlets sent to registered voters, siding with anti-abortion lawmakers on the terminology used to describe an embryo or fetus. New York Times

    MOVERS AND SHAKERS

    Field & Main Bank hired Allison Carter as director of treasury management, first vice president. Previously, Carter was vice president, cash management at Central Bank & Trust Co.

    GenTea Apparel, a menswear brand, named Abigail Linton chief executive officer. Most recently, Linton was chief strategy officer and chief operating officer at Onward Reserve.

    Kathleen Finch, head of U.S. Networks at Warner Bros. Discovery is retiring at the end of 2024. The company named Channing Dungey as her replacement. Currently, Dungey is Warner Bros. Television group chairman and chief executive officer.

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    PARTING WORDS

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