{"id":2538883,"date":"2026-01-16T05:30:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/price-controls-wont-work-better-on-credit-cards-than-groceries\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T05:33:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:33:06","slug":"price-controls-wont-work-better-on-credit-cards-than-groceries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/price-controls-wont-work-better-on-credit-cards-than-groceries\/","title":{"rendered":"Price controls won&#8217;t work better on credit cards than groceries"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprice-controls-wont-work-better-on-credit-cards-than-groceries%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2538883&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Washington Examiner opinion piece argues that President Trump&#8217;s proposal to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hawley-gets-pushback-from-banking-groups-for-bill-to-cap-credit-card-rates-at-18\/\" title=\"Banking groups oppose Hawley&#039;s bill to limit ... card ... at 18%.\">cap credit card interest<\/a> at 10% is impractical, unlawful without congressional approval, and would harm the very consumers it claims to help. The author notes the economy is showing strength-AI-driven productivity gains, fiscal improvements, rising consumer spending, and falling inflation-making the proposal politically puzzling. <\/p>\n<p>The piece explains how credit cards function: responsible users pay 0% interest by paying balances monthly, while revolving balances average about 24% interest. A temporary $500 advance at that rate costs roughly $10 for a month. Capping rates would make many borrowers unprofitable for lenders, restricting credit mostly to high-income, high-FICO customers and pushing lower-income people toward payday loans that charge far higher rates.<\/p>\n<p>Evidence cited includes New York Fed data showing single-digit card rates for FICO >800 versus >20% for borrowers in the 600s, overall charge-off rates near 4%, and Wharton estimates that a 10% cap would render about 80% of customers unprofitable.The author recommends other policy targets-such as curbing at-home sports gambling-if the goal is to curb reckless borrowing, and notes congressional leaders expect the proposal to fail. Article by Tiana Lowe Doescher for the Washington Examiner.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Price controls won&rsquo;t work better on credit cards than groceries<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2399556\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a>&lsquo;s bet on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/artificial-intelligence\/\">artificial intelligence<\/a> is pushing productivity growth to 5%. And the fruits of his signature domestic achievement, his self-styled <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3458466\/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-win-for-america-small-businesses\/\">One Big Beautiful Bill<\/a> Act, are set to bloom in full this year.<\/p>\n<p>Trump should finally feel ready to tout an economy that is shedding the dregs of Bidenomics. Instead, he is oddly cowering in defense.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/4420813\/verizon-compensates-outage-20-dollar-voucher\/\">Verizon compensates for outage with $20 voucher<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/4420564\/judge-declines-paramount-request-expedite-warner-bros-lawsuit\/\">Judge declines Paramount request to expedite Warner Bros. lawsuit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/4419955\/fundraisers-detroit-worker-trump-flipped-off-nears-1-million\/\">Fundraisers for Detroit worker whom Trump flipped off near $1 million<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>He could be touting a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2026-01\/61880-MBR-2025-12.pdf\">16% reduction in the federal deficit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Now, even as consumer spending is on the rise while inflation is slowly but surely trending back toward the Federal Reserve&rsquo;s 2% benchmark, Trump has announced a 10% cap on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/credit-card-interest-rates-reach-all-time-high\/\" title=\"... Card ... Reach All-Time High\">credit card interest rates<\/a>, &ldquo;effective January 20, 2026.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The good news for the rest of us is that Trump cannot, legally or practically, enforce a unilateral interest rate cap without Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) have indicated that the proposal would be dead on arrival in both chambers. But the sheer desperation of Trump&rsquo;s proposition raises the uncomfortable question of why he feels so hopeless about an economy that is otherwise signaling momentous improvement.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans correctly ridiculed former Vice President Kamala Harris for proposing grocery price controls in an 11th-hour attempt to salvage her 2024 presidential bid when she was the Democratic nominee. Yet Trump&rsquo;s price control proposals on credit card interest rates are no less laughable.<\/p>\n<p>If you use a credit card correctly &mdash; that is, you pay it off at the end of every single month &mdash; it charges a customer 0% interest. While a credit card company pays customers&rsquo; bills up front and then rewards them with a percentage in cash back, points can be redeemed for travel and other perks, such as rental car insurance or airport lounge access. If you let a credit card company pay for all of your month&rsquo;s expenses and fail to reimburse it, you pay an average interest rate of about 24%.<\/p>\n<p>If used wisely, this is a fair, solid, and stable line of credit. Let&rsquo;s say a blue-collar worker takes out an extra $500 in December to pay for his children&rsquo;s Christmas gifts but can&rsquo;t pay it back until his next paycheck comes in January; a 24% interest rate amounts to a mere $10 borrowing cost for the privilege of a $500 advance.<\/p>\n<p>Should an interest rate cap actually become law, lending would immediately be restricted solely to the highest-income earners with the highest credit scores. It would leave lower-income borrowers dependent on payday loans that charge between 300% and 900% interest.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that whereas credit card interest rates average in the single digits for borrowers with FICO scores north of 800, interest rates, on average, are more than 20% for borrowers with FICO scores in the 600s. This is not because the banks hate poor people, but rather because poor people cost more to trust with loans.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Fed found that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >credit card charge-offs &#038;mdash<\/a>; that is, when a lender writes off an outstanding debt owed as a loss &mdash; average almost 4% of total balances.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/fairness-justice\/4418522\/trump-embraces-failed-left-wing-credit-card-interest-caps\/\">TRUMP EMBRACES FAILED LEFT-WING, CREDIT CARD INTEREST CAPS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Borrowers with 600 FICO scores have an average charge-off rate of 9.3%, while those with perfect FICO scores have charge-off rates of just 1.3%. Wharton estimated that a 10% interest rate cap would thus render 80% of customers unprofitable, cutting them off from the stability of credit cards and becoming dependent on loan sharks.<\/p>\n<p>If the White House&rsquo;s goal is to effectively parent suboptimal consumers and stop them from recklessly borrowing their way into debt, a crackdown on the novel monstrosity that is at-home sports gambling would be a worthy start. But capping interest rates will not give the poor cheaper access to credit. It will simply deprive them of any reliable finance at all.<\/p>\n<p><em>Tiana Lowe Doescher (@TianaTheFirst) is an economics columnist for the <\/em>Washington Examiner<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Capping card interest would hurt low-income people<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2693,"featured_media":2538884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Biz.Tiana_.012126.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[71104,33375,34402,68385,38340],"class_list":["post-2538883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-consumer-finance","tag-credit-cards","tag-economic-policy","tag-market-regulation","tag-price-controls"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Biz.Tiana_.012126.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2538883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2693"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2538883"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2538883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2538887,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2538883\/revisions\/2538887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2538884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2538883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2538883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2538883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}