We ask this question because The Tribune reported last Sunday that the Utah Legislature may take up bills to further regulate payday lenders in this state. Today, Utah's rules for these outfits do not include caps on interest rates, fees or loan amounts, any limit on the number of outstanding loans a single borrower may have at one time, or any requirement that a lender try to determine whether a borrower has a reasonable chance of repaying a loan.

The lenders argue that a rate cap is unnecessary in a competitive industry where the market sets the price of small loans. They also claim that their profit margin is not outside the norm for other businesses, and that viewing the cost of borrowing in terms of annual percentage rates is misleading because the term of most payday loans is two weeks. For example, borrowers often are charged $15 to borrow $100 for two weeks. That's an annual percentage rate of 390 percent, though many customers do not consider a $15 fee to originate a $100 loan unreasonable.

But Congress, acting after a Pentagon report disclosed that unscrupulous payday lenders were preying on members of the armed services, imposed a rate cap of 36 percent on interest and fees. That law applies, however, only to U.S. troops.

It is a measure of our times that the word usury has gone out of the vocabulary and that 36 percent per annum is considered a justifiable interest rate. But when bank credit card companies regularly charge 20-30 percent, plus exorbitant fees, we begin to wonder whether this society has a conscience about usury anymore.

As the Utah Legislature considers additional regulations for payday lenders, we encourage lawmakers to read the Pentagon report (www.usa4militaryfamilies.dod.mil) and the model legislation prepared by the National Consumer Law Center.

Microcredit can be a good thing, but there's a difference between it and loansharking. Utah should encourage the former and close down the latter.