Free Markets = Free Competition

Pima County and Tucson are pondering placing limitations of what payday lenders can charge and how close they can be together - all in the name of "protecting" the poor.

The damn Arizona Daily Star gets it, why can't these guys. Placing controlls on businesses trying to enter a field only helps the businesses that are already in it. These rules wil hurt those they're supposed to help. To make it worse the limits won't effect already open lenders, only new ones.

Is that the intent? Are our city and county governments deliberately trying to hurt us. It seems so, since they want the state legislature to take action, maybe they are trying to make the problem worse and worse until that happens.

Which would sort of mean that the problem of paydaylenders is not so bad to actually need correction.

Limiting competition here means the current players are free to amass higher profits at the expense of their customers. Lots of payday lenders mean they are all competing for customers and cutting margins as much as possible - this, and only this, help low-income (actually all)consumers.