To help improve the economy, is it possible to keep prices at a low rate? Would it help?

Prices are based on supply and demand. The more people there are wanting and buying the item, the lower its price, in general.

To make prices low by law is called price fixing. It would be nice to pay .50 for a loaf of bread but what about the company who delivered it? Would they get less profit too? Yes. Then the delivery guys for the bread would make lower wages. Then there's the bakery, the grainery and the farmer who grew the wheat all making less profit. Then, nearly everyone involved is making very little money.

So what, you can get a loaf of bread for only .50 cents. But the incentive to make, and deliver the best bread nice and fresh is gone. No matter how well the farmer grows the wheat, no matter how well the bakery bakes it, it will still be cheap bread. Without the financial incentive to do a better job, bread is lousy! Then there "isn't enough" of it and you have to stand in line to get it.

That's called communism.

So, the short answer is, it wouldn't help. That's just my opinion. Economics is multifaceted and complex. Great subject.