I find Credit Cards very useful.
Let's say I am in the US on a business trip and want to extend a trip to New York over a weekend, change my flight back home and stay three more days. Where would I get the cash for that? I am not going to carry around another $1000 in cash just in case. I might lose it.
Where would I get the money to stay the extra time with no credit cards?
How would I have comeback for things I buy on the Internet without Visa, MasterCard, or PayPal? Once a merchant has my money there is not much I can do to force him to refund it.
If I am stupid enough to spend money I can't pay back the next month then that is my fault. One has to look at the cost of money, just as one has to consider the cost of everything else in life.
I can buy a Bentley or M-class Merc and find that the parts and servicing nudge gas mileage far outweigh the utility value of the car to get from A to B. On the other hand, by driving a car like this I might convince a CEO to do business with my firm because it gives him confidence that I must be doing something right, in order to afford a car like this. The profit from just one contract might pay for the higher costs of running a luxury car several times over.
If I work as a nurse, it is stupid to buy a luxury car. If I work as a real estate salesperson and drive my customers to view expensive properties it probably makes economic sense.
Primarily, the responsibility to weigh up the costs of borrowing versus the utility and future value rests with the borrower. Just as it does with the purchaser of cars, houses or anything else.
The costs of a loan and the possible outcomes are pretty easy to understand by all but the most stupid people. People with a modicum of intelligence and common sense can assess the risks, decide what they can tolerate and borrow when they need to. Lenders can lend on the same basis.
I would never borrow from a PayDay lender, because I will never need to, but some people do. They are adults, the rates and fees are clear enough. Let adults be adults and not protect people from their own stupidity.