Truthout: Wall Street beware, The public banking movement is coming for you!

The public banking movement rallying across the country is growing stronger by the week. Truthout is the latest publication to call attention to its influence and the surge of demands for public control of the public’s banking system. Robert R. Raymond writes,

“Spurred by the need for an alternative to the for-profit, extractive model of finance exemplified by Wall Street, there is a budding movement in the United States that is working to reimagine banking as an institution that truly serves the public. … Growing largely out of the need for more democratic ownership over capital, the aim of this budding movement is to create a robust public banking infrastructure across the nation that is rooted in the principles of economic, environmental, racial and social justice.”

[read more]

Public banks and the Green New Deal featured in Fast Company

Fast Company magazine devotes a long read to public banking and how it has rapidly “gone from a fringe idea … to a viable policy route that cities from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., are considering.”

Writer Eillie Anzilotti turns to PBI Chair Ellen Brown to describe how public banking, including a national public bank, would be a necessary feature of a Green New Deal. Ellen explains:

“It would be very difficult to come up with the money for a Green New Deal without a public banking system. … We need to harness the power of the Federal Reserve to do something other than bail out big private banks.”

[read more]

Redefining money

Money should be designed for the many not the few, argues Mary Mellor in her new book Money, Myths, Truths and Alternatives.

In an article in The Conversation, Mellor previews her book’s themes:

“The myths about money have led us to look at public spending and taxation the wrong way around. … It is no longer necessary to mint coins like Alexander, money can be created by keystrokes. There is no reason why this should be monopolized by the banking sector to create new public money as debt. … The answer must be to subject both forms of money creation – bank and state – to democratic accountability.”

[read more]

Abell Foundation: Baltimore should study a public bank to improve financial equity

A new report issued this month by the Abell Foundation concludes that public banking is “a formula that has worked and can work … for Baltimore.”

Sean H. Vanatta, author of the study, is a visiting assistant professor at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. His in-depth report examines the current state of market failure and disinvestment in Baltimore by Wall Street banks, and illuminates the nationwide movement to “invigorate finance with public purpose,” highlighting PBI’s work. Vanatta writes:

“Across the city, large commercial banks are closing branches, shutting down critical points of financial access for individuals and small businesses and contributing to ongoing patterns of financial exclusion in the city’s marginalized communities. Financialization has repackaged redlining. … In Baltimore, two banks, headquartered outside the state of Maryland, control half of the local banking market. … In Baltimore County, [post-2010] closings amounted to 25 percent of bank branches. The closings tended to occur in lower-income and non-white neighborhoods.”

[read more]

How to pay for progressive policies? Look to Asia

Continuing the discussion on a Green New Deal, PBI Chair Ellen Brown devotes her latest article in Truthdig to examining the models of China and Japan. Both countries have been adding new money to the economy very successfully simply by creating it on the books of their own banks. Prices remain extremely stable with under 2% inflation, confounding classical monetary theorists.

China and Japan differ from the US in significant ways. Their banking laws allow their central banks to work with their governments in setting fiscal and monetary policy. Ellen recommends the US abandon the obsolete theories on which policymakers have relied and instead embrace this now proven model:

“What U.S. presidential candidates from both parties should talk about is how to modify the law so that Congress, the administration and the central bank can work together in setting monetary policy.”

[read more]

Video spotlight: Ellen Brown discusses the latest developments in public banking 

What’s Happening in Public Banking? 

Host Walt McRee talks with best-selling author and PBI Chair Ellen Brown about her new book Banking on the People and about recent national developments that are propelling the public banking movement forward around the country. In California, legislators in both the Assembly and Senate are poised to pass the first bill to enable cities and regions to create publicly-owned municipal banks. In the process, California is leading the way for other states now considering similar steps.

[watch the video]

Together, we can make 2019 the year public banks win!

Thank you again for your determination and support. Your financial support will help fund our 2019 Campaign for Public Banks to create the BIG PUSH we need now to get public banks established. You can sign on to support and contribute below.

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PBI video: Public Banking Made Easy

Our latest animated video is helping thousands of people understand the basic concepts of public banking. Please help us make public banking common knowledge by sharing it with your friends and groups. Thank you for all your help!

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Public Banking Coalition monthly conference calls

Next call: Sept 13th 2019
*Please note: We are taking a break from these calls for the summer.*

Once a month, PBI hosts an hour-long Public Banking Coalition conference call in which we introduce the concept of Public Banks, discuss current issues, and give updates on the advances being made for Public Banks all across the country. Calls take place at 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT on the second Friday of each month.