Trump Blasts Credit Usury, Wants 10% Solution

As Wall Street is alarmed at home many Americans are falling behind in their bills, Trump floats a 10% cap on credit card interest rates. The long shot idea sounds good until the most needful of credit would be frozen out of the game.

At least, that’s the argument critics of Trump’s idea make, and the WSJ articles suggests it’s the key reason “past proposals for higher caps haven’t gained traction.” Still, the paper concedes, “Trump’s proposal comes as more Americans are struggling to pay their credit-card bills. The average interest rate on cards was 21.5% as of May 2024, according to the Fed, [which are] around the highest levels in at least a decade.” Meanwhile, “the average credit-card interest rate hasn’t fallen below 10% in Fed data going back to 1994.”

Businessman Trump, of course, knows the credit card companies would shut off the spigot to more borderline, high risk consumers if there’s a low cap placed on what interest they can charge them. But, Trump insisted at a New York rally, “We can’t let them make 25 & 30 percent.” Well, what would happen if a cap were at 15%? Would that number be where, as one banker noted, “the rubber meets the road”? On the other hand & somewhat ironically, THAT was once Bernie Sanders’s proposal that quickly got shutdown in Congress. As did Sen. Hawley’s 18% solution. One thing can be taken to the bank: The lenders won’t take the risk if their take is in jeopardy.

Davd Soul