"Let’s say you needed to borrow  $100 from me, and you’d give me my money back tomorrow. 

I told you, yes, but you could only do it if you paid me back  $101. 

You’d probably say sure. 

Paying $1 to get the $100 you need; no big deal, right?  

Well, guess what, when you pay me back that dollar, you are fundamentally paying me back with at a 365% APR.  

Say what?  Yup. 

Now let’s say I was the bank and you wrote a bad check for $100 (yes, people still write checks), and I charged you a $35 overdraft fee.  

Guess what, you just paid me a 135 percent increase over the original amount.  

Why am I playing ECON 101?  Because I think when it comes to what some have labeled as “payday” loan legislation, we need to take a step back from the histrionics and have a grown-up conversation."