&gt; By all means, let payday lenders do their thing, but they need competition.<p>The studies referred to by fennecfoxen show that payday lending is extremely competitive: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;fee.org&#x2F;articles&#x2F;busting-the-myths-of-payday-lending" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;fee.org&#x2F;articles&#x2F;busting-the-myths-of-payday-lending</a>. That&#x27;s why the margins are so thin.<p>You&#x27;re not talking about government &quot;competing&quot; in this space. You&#x27;re asking for the government to subsidize payday loans either directly or across borrowers with different credit ratings (like the government does with student loans).