Public Banking

Public Banking Learning Circle

Public Banking can save the planet, close the equity gap, address systemic racism, stop funding weapons and global wars, and level the playing field for women and families. Learn more in the first series of our special and accessible workshops for women—and become a skilled advocate for economic change in your community! This is an entirely digital, small-group series of six sessions offered at a sliding scale. We'll kick off our first session on Friday, April 8th at 8pm eastern/5pm pacific. Then we'll meet together five more Fridays, at the same time (8pm eastern/5pm pacific), on April 29th, May 20th, June 10th, July 1st and July 22nd.All registration fees are donations that will fuel our work to make this information widely accessible.

FDR Knew Exactly How To Solve Today’s Unemployment Crisis

December 18, 2020 Ellen Brown, ScheerPost.com. Create! FDR, Federal Reserve, Public Banking, Unemployment

Millions of Americans have joined the ranks of the unemployed, and government relief checks and savings are running out; meanwhile, the country still needs trillions of dollars in infrastructure. Putting the unemployed to work on those infrastructure projects seems an obvious solution, especially given that the $600 or $700 stimulus checks Congress is planning on issuing will do little to address the growing crisis. Various plans for solving the infrastructure crisis involving public-private partnerships have been proposed, but they’ll invariably result in private investors reaping the profits while the public bears the costs and liabilities.

The Pandemic Has Shown That We Need A Public Option For Banking Services

May 18, 2020 By Raúl Carrillo, Inequality.org. Create! Banking and Finance, COVID-19, Public Banking, Recession

As marginalized families without bank accounts struggle to get stimulus checks, it's time to fix the rusty pipes of our inequitable financial system. The COVID-19 pandemic response has shown that the very foundations of our economy are shaky, fragile, and — for some of us — downright dangerous. We’re once again watching working people, especially working people of color, bear the brunt of the fallout. Meanwhile, big companies traded on the stock market took two-thirds of the money meant to bail out small businesses.

Public Banking Would Help Speed Economic Recovery

April 18, 2020 Isaiah Poole and Rick Girling, The Hill. Create! COVID-19, Debt, Public Banking, Recession

At least 90 percent of the nation’s cities are facing a budget crisis because of the economic shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a mid-April report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. Because municipal governments cannot run deficits, they will have to respond by cutting staff and programs, which will worsen the economic conditions of the cities they serve. If cities had public banks, they would be much better equipped to deal with these budget shortfalls and maintain the services and staff most vital to their economic recovery. That’s why state and local political leaders should use emergency powers to rapidly create public banks that can serve as key engines of a just and sustainable economic recovery. Public banks are new to most of us in America, but they have been a proven institution globally for the past few hundred years.

A “Critical-Care” Bailout For Main Street In The Face Of COVID-19

April 13, 2020 the Public Banking Institute. Create! Bailout, Public Banking, Recession

The Public Banking Institute has been working since 2011 to return control of money and credit to states and communities and create a network of publicly-owned federal, state and municipal banks that would establish a safe, low-cost alternative to the current exploitative financial system controlled by Wall Street. Our Board and Advisory Board members include noted economists, bankers, professors, authors, and organizational leaders. Our letter outlines four immediate actions needed to rescue the Main Street economy following the coronavirus shutdowns and ensuing financial collapse and shows how they can be done without imposing additional taxes or driving up consumer prices.

New York Moving To Become Next State To Enact Public Banking

January 20, 2020 Oscar Perry Bello, Nextcity.org Create! New York, Public Banking

It’s a sunny August Saturday in Far Rockaway, and New York State Senator James Sanders Jr. could hardly be more in his element. He’s riding high, not only on his parade float leading the 3rd Annual Carnival in the Rockaways, but also in his relatively new position as chair of the NY State Senate Committee on Banks. Both of those positions will be crucial for Sanders as he prepares to take on Wall Street in the 2020 state legislative session. People come out as the parade comes by to sit on stoops, porches, stand out in front of stores, and along sidewalks.

The People vs Wall Street: California’s Public Banking Shakeup

November 17, 2019 Glenn Daigon, WhoWhatWhy.org. Strategize! California, Public Banking, Wall Street

For only the second time in 100 years, a people-powered coalition overcame the stiff opposition of the banking lobby to successfully pass a law that legalizes public banking. Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed a bill into law last month allowing California cities and towns to establish public banks. It was almost a century ago that a similar grassroots uprising in North Dakota overcame the clout of big finance to establish the state-run Bank of North Dakota. And the passage of the California law may reverberate across the country. “We finally have the option of reinvesting our public tax dollars in our communities instead of rewarding Wall Street’s bad behavior,” AB 857 sponsor and California Assembly member David Chiu (D-San Francisco) told the Los Angeles Times.

Historic Breakthrough: Gov. Newsom Signs The Public Banking Act Into California Law

October 3, 2019 The Public Banking Institute Create! California, Public Banking, Wall Streer

Public Banking in California is a fantastic and historic breakthrough. This has been a longtime struggle of thousands of activists in California and throughout the country. Many cities and states have been making progress and this will the first breakthrough of many. Of course, we should expect Wall Street to respond aggressively, so let's escalate our organizing and seize this opportunity. If we increase our efforts on this critical issue we can open the floodgates to democratized banking and take control of finance from Wall Street and give it to the people.

Desperate Central Bankers Grab For More Power

September 21, 2019 Ellen Brown, Web of Debt. Educate! Central Bank, Finance and the Economy, Public Banking

Central bankers are acknowledging that they are out of ammunition. Mark Carney, the soon-to-be-retiring head of the Bank of England, said in a speech at the annual meeting of central bankers in August in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, “In the longer-term, we need to change the game.” The same point was made by Philipp Hildebrand, former head of the Swiss National Bank, in an August 2019 interview with Bloomberg. “Really there is little if any ammunition left,” he said. “More of the same in terms of monetary policy is unlikely to be an appropriate response if we get into a recession or sharp downturn.” “More of the same” meant further lowering interest rates, the central bankers’ stock tool for maintaining their targeted inflation rate in a downturn.

Underserved Communities Increasingly Support Public Banking To Rectify Wall Street Abuses

February 22, 2019 Staff, Publicbankinginstitute.org Educate! New Economy, Public Banking, Wall Street

People from all hues of the political spectrum are recognizing that having local transparent control over the creation of credit through a publicly-owned bank not only saves money, but also gives communities the keys to the most important engine running an economy. Advocates see that this engine could be directed effectively to serve those whom Wall Street has continually exploited. A new report by the Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE) calls for a public bank in Chicago to serve the people who live there, instead of the financial elite.

Study Strongly Supports Public Banking To Finance Infrastructure

February 17, 2019 The Public Banking Institute. Create! Finance and Economy, Infrastructure, New Economy, Public Banking

In honor of the Bank of North Dakota’s centennial anniversary, here is an excellent academic report from Cornell University that includes a detailed case study of BND’s 2015 Infrastructure Loan Fund. The report examines the “unique benefits of public banksand explores strategies for the implementation of similar structured institutions in New York State and the broader US context.” Prepared by Shareef M. Hussam for Professor Mildred Warner at Cornell’s Department of City and Regional Planning, it provides strong academic reinforcement for advocates’ testimony...

Ocasio’s Proposed Green New Deal Includes Public Bank Funding

December 1, 2018 Public Banking Institute Strategize! Green New Deal, New Economy, Public Banking

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — one of two insurgent progressive candidates to succeed in their races for Congress — submitted draft text for a select committee on a Green New Deal financed by a system of national and regional public banks and the Federal Reserve. The plan calls for a sweeping mobilization to make the US carbon neutral and draw down greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere and oceans. The inclusion of public banking is an important indicator that awareness of its value has reached the federal level, in good measure due to local advocates who have been pressing the case to Ocasio-Cortez and her team.

4 Reasons Why Los Angeles’ Upcoming Public Banking Ballot Initiative Is A Huge Deal

September 14, 2018 Phoenix Goodman, Laprogressive.com Create! Electoral Politics, Los Angeles, New Economy, Public Banking

On November 6th, the citizens of Los Angeles will have a chance to decide if their city should pave the path towards creating the first municipal public bank in the country. No doubt, a ‘yes’ vote for Charter Amendment B will be significant for the city, as it will put the immense power of banking in the hands of accountable officials bound by a mission of social good—a radical shift from the status quo of giving that business to Wall St. Today, the privilege of financing city services is reserved for private speculators. Last year, the City of Los Angeles paid $170 million in banking fees and $1.1 billion in interest to big banks and investors—money that would be recycled into public coffers for reinvestment if Los Angeles had a Public Bank instead.

Oakland Takes Step Toward Public Bank With Unanimous Committee Vote

September 14, 2018 Staff, Publicbankinginstitute.org Create! New Economy, Oakland, Public Banking

The City of Oakland's Finance Committee accepted the Public Bank Feasibility Study and staff report, and recommended placing it on the full City Council's agenda so that all Councilors may have an opportunity to discuss the report and options. Watch as banking experts, elected officials, and advocates alike give overwhelming support for Oakland’s public bank: VIDEO (note: link takes a bit of time to load). The feasibility study author, a banking expert, and stake holders from the community spoke in support of moving forward with a full business plan to answer the questions that were not addressed in the study.

The Crisis Next Time: Planning For Public Ownership As An Alternative To Corporate Bank Bailouts

July 25, 2018 Thomas Hanna, Thenextsystem.org Create! Bailout, Banks, New Economy, Public Banking, Public ownership

The next financial crisis is all but inevitable. While its exact timing and severity cannot be predicted, both the accelerating frequency of crises in recent decades and the continued consolidation of the banking sector in an increasingly financialized economy suggest that we should be prepared for a crisis sooner rather than later. In the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, the US federal government intervened at an unprecedented scale to bailout our largest commercial banks after they became entangled in the mess of risky financial products built on top of an unsustainable housing bubble. The effect of these massive bailouts was, in the end, to preserve the status quo: the modest attempts made to regulate the financial sector to protect consumers and avert further devastating financial crises have largely been rolled back, and the banks that were then “too big to fail” are today even bigger.

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