The authors of this Wall Street Journal article argue that restricting the ability of poor people to get credit — which is what usury laws do, but setting maximum legally allowed interest rates — do more harm than good.

I think the right way to look at this is Thomas Sowell’s observation that you don’t make people better off by taking options away from them. A short term high interest rate loan might seem like a bad decision, but what if that’s the way you get money to get your car fixed so you can keep getting to work? Better to allow borrowers, whether rich or poor, to figure the costs and benefits on their own without the intervention of grandstanding politicians.