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Public Banking

Seattle: Diverse Coalition Emerging Around Public Banking

January 10, 2018 Staff, Publicbankinginstitute.org , ,
Activists as diverse as Black Lives Matter, local tribal members of the Standing Rock Coalition, 350.org, Democratic Socialists, and MLK County Labor council, as well as several experienced bankers, retired government officials and law school professors have coalesced along with Public Banking advocates in Seattle to pressure City Council to move forward on their newly approved $100,000 feasibility study. For those in the Seattle area, join the Seattle Public Banking Coalition here. The Seattle Public Banking Coalition is actively connecting these coalition members to communicate to City Council the urgency of moving forward with the feasibility study. They detail the gains the study would deliver including drafting of a mission statement, examining legal issues, and identifying sources of initial capital...

Seattle: Diverse Coalition Emerging Around Public Banking

January 5, 2018 Sarah Brink, Publicbankinginstitute.org , ,
Activists as diverse as Black Lives Matter, local tribal members of the Standing Rock Coalition, 350.org, Democratic Socialists, and MLK County Labor council, as well as several experienced bankers, retired government officials and law school professors have coalesced along with Public Banking advocates in Seattle to pressure City Council to move forward on their newly approved $100,000 feasibility study. For those in the Seattle area, join the Seattle Public Banking Coalition here. The Seattle Public Banking Coalition is actively connecting these coalition members to communicate to City Council the urgency of moving forward with the feasibility study. They detail the gains the study would deliver including drafting of a mission statement, examining legal issues, and identifying sources of initial capital...

Will San Francisco Be First City With A Public Bank?

December 7, 2017 Staff, publicbankinginstitute.org , ,
By Staff of Public Banking Institute - San Francisco's Board of Supervisors released a new report last week that puts SF strongly in the running for the first city in the nation to launch a Public Bank. As the San Francisco Examiner explains, Supervisors Malia Cohen and Sandra Fewer are advancing the idea of establishing a municipal bank, which would end The City’s use of profit-driven large national commercial banks for banking services. As Wall Street financial institutions come under increasing fire for their continued stream of fraud scandals and perpetual investments in dirty fuel, Public Banks are rapidly gaining traction as an ethical and profitable solution. “Within a few years, the municipal bank should be able to generate sufficient revenue to be able to cover its costs and serve as the primary financial institution for The City,” the report said. The report also confirmed San Francisco has the legal authority to establish a Public Bank. After reviewing State codes in detail, the City Attorney’s Office concluded that “State law does not preclude the City from creating a bank as a separate entity.” In fact, “a public bank serving a public purpose would be supported by case law.” The report suggested a municipal bank could launch and make loans in the first year starting with its initial equity, and “gradually build up its assets as loans are repaid with interest and new loans are originated.”

Former Governor Of Bank Of Spain: Public Entity Should Create Money

December 6, 2017 Staff, publicbankinginstitute.org , , ,
By Staff of Public Banking Institute - Positive Money, the monetary reform group based in the UK, posts that Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez, former governor of Bank of Spain, is now recommending money creation by public entity instead of by private banks. He references the advances in technology that would allow safe public issuing. He came to the Spanish Lower House on Nov 7, 2017 and said the following: “In the latest years, some analysts have emerged who are evaluating the possibility to change current money creation system by private banks and to substitute it with another one which would let every citizen deposit their money at central banks. These studies have surged, because the technological advances in the computing and data storage, have made it technically possible today for money to be issued by the State, and not by private banks which would be of course doing their businesses in the assets’ side, but without the need that their problems should be resolved by the State, as deposits would be completely safe at the issuing bank. The possibility to issue public and safe money thanks to new technologies, according to these researchers, would have positive consequences, not only for the system's stability, but also to reduce or even do without the huge prudential regulation which is today damaging financial innovation.

Sears Crash Shows Capitalism Is Morally Bankrupt

November 12, 2017 Matt Stannard, www.occupy.com , , ,
By Matt Stannard for Occupy.com. One of my closest friends in town recently lost his job managing a Sears automobile department, when the store was closed for financial reasons. My friend was surprised to be laid off because he says he’d been told the store was doing well, and his auto shop customers were happy, giving the department complimentary reviews and keeping the staff busy. He was doing everything right and so, apparently, were his fellow workers. But the success of individual Sears stores was irrelevant. In a pretty amazing body of work, Business Insider’s Hailey Peterson has documented the slow death of Sears at the hands of CEO Eddie Lampert.

What A Public Bank Could Mean For California

July 3, 2017 Ellen Brown, www.ellenbrown.com , , ,
By Ellen Brown for The Web of Debt Blog - California is the eighth largest economy in the world, and it has a debt burden to match. It has outstanding general obligation bonds and revenue bonds of $158 billion, largely incurred for infrastructure. Of this tab, $70 billion is just for interest. Over $7 billion of California’s annual budget goes to pay interest on the state’s debt. As large as California’s liabilities are, they are exceeded by its assets, which are sufficient to capitalize a bank rivaling any in the world. That’s the idea behind Assembly Bill 750, introduced by Assemblyman Ben Hueso of San Diego, which would establish a blue ribbon task force to consider the viability of creating the California Investment Trust, a state bank receiving deposits of state funds. Instead of relying on Wall Street banks for credit – or allowing a Wall Street bank to enjoy the benefits of lending its capital – California may decide to create its own, publicly-owned bank. On May 2, AB 750 moved out of the Banking and Finance Committee with only one nay vote and is now on its way to the Appropriations Committee. Three unions submitted their support for the bill – the California Nurses Association, the California Firefighters, and the California Labor Council. The state bank idea also got a nod from former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich in his speech at the California Democratic Convention in Sacramento the previous day.

Public Banking Goes To Pot

April 27, 2017 Jeremy Lybarger, www.hcn.org ,
By Jeremy Lybarger for High Country News - Last October, a couple from Philadelphia traveled to Sebastopol, California, a quiet outpost some 50 miles north of San Francisco, to buy pot. They’d arranged the deal beforehand, but at some point during the hourlong transaction, the mood soured. Gunfire shattered the mild night. When it was over, two men were dead, a woman was critically injured, and 100 pounds of marijuana and $100,000 to $200,000 in cash were reportedly missing. The killers remain at large. Crime haunts the edges of the cannabis industry, as it does any underground economy. Sebastopol’s local newspaper reports that seven of the 26 people murdered in Sonoma County since 2013 died during marijuana deals. “People get robbed all the time,” says Andrew DeAngelo of Harborside, a dispensary in Oakland, California. Although 29 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana in some form, it’s still federally classified as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin and LSD. And that means, as Last Week Tonight host John Oliver noted in an early April show, that “legal marijuana businesses have struggled to get bank accounts because at the federal level, they are still seen as criminal enterprises.”

A Bank Even A Socialist Could Love

April 22, 2017 David Dayen, www.inthesetimes.com ,
By David Dayen for In These Times - “Money is a utility that belongs to all of us,” says Walt McRee. McRee is a velvety-voiced former broadcaster now plotting an audacious challenge to the financial system. He’s leading a monthly conference call as chair of the Public Banking Institute (PBI), an educational and advocacy force formed seven years ago to break Wall Street’s stranglehold on state and municipal finance. “This is one of the biggest eye-openers of my life,” says Rebecca Burke, a New Jersey activist on the call. “Once you see it, you can’t look back.” This ragtag group—former teachers, small business owners, social workers— wants to charter state and local banks across the country. These banks would leverage tax revenue to make low-interest loans for local public works projects, small businesses, affordable housing and student loans, spurring economic growth while saving people—and the government—money. At the heart of the public banking concept is a theory about the best way to put America’s abundance of wealth to use. Cities and states typically keep their cash reserves either in Wall Street banks or in low-risk investments. This money tends not to go very far.

Cities And States Prefer Public Banks To Wall Street

March 11, 2017 Staff, www.publicbankinginstitute.org ,
By Staff of Public Banking Institute - Alarmed by the corruption and greed of Wall Street, many US cities and states are studying the feasibility of establishing public banks. Public banks are owned by cities, states or other jurisdictions and serve to keep funds local instead of being deposited on Wall Street. The funds are then used to support local economic activities like small business loans and student loans. Washington State has already cut its ties with Wells Fargo because they funded DAPL. Now they want to get rid of Wall Street as a place to park their money making use of the local economy and profiting the people of Washington instead of the bankers of Wall Street.

Newsletter – Beyond Russia: The Work Ahead

December 18, 2016 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. As the day that the Electoral College casts its vote for President draws near, so does the frenzy of accusations that Russians hacked the election to benefit Donald Trump and are spreading 'fake news' full of Russian propaganda. It seems like everyone is jumping on the anti-Russia bandwagon, including past Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and most of the organizations affiliated with the Democratic Party. Many are calling for the Electors to switch their votes to Hillary Clinton. Russian spying image from the Intercept Russian spying image from the Intercept The absurdity of the 2016 Presidential election doesn't seem to have an end. We urge readers not to get drawn into the manufactured distractions of the day. We have real work to do, no matter who is elected, to organize across multiple fronts of struggle.

Oakland Passes Public Banking Resolution, Reaffirmed As Sanctuary City

December 1, 2016 Sheng Thao, www.cowboysonthecommons.org , , , ,
By Sheng Thao for Cowboys On The Commons - The Resolution, co-sponsored by Councilmembers Kaplan, Kalb, and Guillen, directs the City Administrator to look into the scope and cost of conducting a feasibility study for public banking in Oakland and possibly the larger region. It also directs City Staff to solicit input from community stakeholders about the feasibility study, including suggestions of potential contractors and funding sources; and makes it clear that the study should cover the legality and feasibility of banking the cannabis industry. The Resolution generated support from Councilmembers and community members alike.

Oakland Just Voted To Explore Public Banking

November 18, 2016 Shara Smith, www.publicbankinginstitute.org ,
By Shara Smith for Public Banking Institute - In response to long-term economic instability and disappointment with the mainstream banking system, the Oakland City Council voted Tuesday to investigate a public banking feasibility study funded by money left over from the Goldman Sachs Debarment Proceedings. The resolution, co-sponsored by Councilmembers Kaplan, Kalb, and Guillen, also directs city staff to solicit input from community stakeholders about the feasibility study, including suggestions of potential contractors and funding sources.

Baltimore: One Year After The Uprising

April 23, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. Last April after the killing of Freddie Gray Baltimore experienced an uprising. It was not what was shown on television, which highlighted a few hours of burning cars and buildings, but a week long event that brought the city together. People of all ages and races called for transformation of the city so it corrected the injustices of decades of neglect and racism in the poor black communities of East and West Baltimore. As you can hear from our first two guests the problems of police violence continue to plague Baltimore but residents or also organizing to make the call for change a reality. A year later there is a lot of community organizing going on, as you can hear from Derrick Chase and Abdul Salaam below, which will take time to show results. The city is also going through a major local election where a new mayor and city council will be elected.

Financial Turn-Around Starts Here: A Public Bank For Santa Fe

March 9, 2016 Nichoe Lichen, www.greenfiretimes.com , ,
By Nichoe Lichen for Green Fire Times - The crash of 2008 just keeps on giving. We didn’t make it happen, but somehow it’s ours to fix. Historically, governments look to raising taxes and cutting jobs and services to “fix the problem.” So it goes in the city of Santa Fe this year. This may be a short-term necessity, given the city’s current financial crisis, but Banking on New Mexico believes the time is right for a better long-term strategy that includes a public bank that will invest our public funds—interest earned from those taxes, fees and fines we all pay—back into our community.

Newsletter: After The Crash…

January 9, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. The economic agenda described here would create a radical transformation of the economy from a top-down system designed for the wealthiest, to a botton-up system that creates a foundation for an economy that benefits all. Putting in place this economy would move us from a plutocratic economy to a democratized economy where people have economic control over their lives. It is a radical shift – how can it happen? There is only one path – the people must be educated, organized and mobilized to demand it. We need to change the political culture to one where the necessities of the people and protection of the planet are the priorities of the economy. If predictions are correct, the next economic collapse will deeper and more damaging than the 2008 collapse. It will be a tremendous opportunity to demand radical economic change. It is one the movement for economic, racial and environmental justice should be preparing for now.
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