In the past, the government often tried to ensure that we pay "a fair rate" of interest by implementing usury ceilings or limits on the rates that lenders can charge. During the 1980s there was a general trend toward eliminating or raising these limits as policy-makers reacted to the high inflation and record interest rates of the late 1970s. During the early 1990s, however, the trend reversed as some suggested that caps should be placed on credit card rates, which remained at historically high levels while other key interest rates declined significantly. On the surface, capping interest rates seems to be perfectly logical. To protect people.
