Nevada has a debt problem. A big one.
According to a new study by WalletHub, Silver State households carry the 5th-highest average credit card debt in America – at about $12,832 per household – totaling roughly $13.7 billion statewide.
Those numbers came to light in a article by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, just as Donald Trump floated the idea of capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent.
But while Trump’s comments have helped shine a spotlight on a growing national problem, Nevada Assemblywoman Lisa Cole says lawmakers should be careful about trying to fix it with government mandates.
Cole, a Clark County Republican, told the Review-Journal she appreciates the attention being paid to household debt. Still, she warned that price controls in a free-market system often come with consequences.
“Anytime a cap is put on something in a free market capitalist system, it can have unknown and unintended consequences,” Cole said.
She also pointed out something politicians don’t like to admit: cheaper credit doesn’t always mean less debt.
Offering lower interest rates, she said, could actually encourage more borrowing.
Cole described the situation as a “vicious circle” that threatens the broader economy.
“It’s scary to know there are so many people out there with credit card debt that might not get paid back,” she told the Review-Journal.
“It compounds on itself because if you’re not paying it off at the end of every month and you have a super high interest rate just compounding and compounding,” she continued, “what ends up happening at the end of the day is the person has to seek bankruptcy protection from their creditors.”
And when that happens, everyone pays.
“And then you have the creditors out of their money and so then they want to charge more interest to get that back from other people,” Cole added.
She’s right.
When borrowers default, banks don’t just shrug and move on. They tighten lending standards, raise rates on responsible cardholders, lower credit limits, and tack on new fees.
Families who pay their bills on time end up subsidizing those who don’t.
That’s why conservatives have long argued that government-imposed interest caps often hurt the very people they’re supposed to help.
High-risk borrowers are usually the first to lose access to credit altogether.
Instead of getting a lower-rate credit card, they’re pushed toward payday lenders, pawn shops, or other high-cost alternatives.
Meanwhile, artificially cheap credit can make it easier to rack up balances, digging people deeper into debt.
From a conservative standpoint, Nevada’s credit card problem isn’t really about interest rates. It’s about rising living costs.
Groceries cost more. Rent costs more. Gas costs more (thanks, California). Wages haven’t kept pace. So families swipe plastic just to get by.
Capping interest rates doesn’t fix inflation. It doesn’t lower housing costs. And it doesn’t teach financial responsibility.
Cole’s position reflects a basic free-market principle: you don’t solve overspending with price controls.
You solve it by strengthening the economy, reining in government spending, encouraging job growth, and letting competition drive prices down naturally.
Nevada families don’t need another Washington-style quick fix.
They need real relief, real opportunity, and leaders willing to tell the truth about what actually works.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. Digital technology was used in the research, writing, and production of this article. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
