| http://ccmj.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PublicBankingInstitute.jpg Greetings Friend, PUBLIC BANKING INSTITUTE NEWS: DEC 19, 20192020, the year public banks launch!PBI Chair Ellen Brown delivers a year end message. The soaring momentum for public banking gives us a golden opportunity to make 2020 the year public banks launch. Consider making a donation now to create another historic year. [watch the video] • [donate now] Welcome Dennis! The Public Banking Institute is honored again this week to have another new member join our Board of Directors, Dennis Ortblad. Dennis saw first hand the importance of publicly owned banks in strengthening economic development when he was stationed as a diplomat in Germany and Japan. He has subsequently worked for many years to establish new public banks in Washington State and Seattle. [read full bio] Ellen Brown: Paul Volcker’s long shadow PBI Chair Ellen Brown writes in Truthdig that the legacy of Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who died on December 8, is controversial at best. “At a time when the Fed’s credibility was “greatly diminished,” he restored to it the life-and-death power over the economy that it continues to exercise today. His “shock therapy” of the early 1980s broke the backs of labor and the unions, bankrupted the savings and loans, and laid the groundwork for the “liberalization” of the banking laws that allowed securitization, derivatives, and the repo market to take center stage. As noted by Jeff Spross in The Week, Volcker’s chosen strategy essentially loaded all the pain onto the working class, an approach to monetary policy that has shaped Fed policy ever since.” [read more] Video spotlight: Your support of the Public Banking Institute will help us make 2020 the year public banks launch! This short video captures the momentum that can make 2020 the year that public banks launch nationally. With your support, we can make the coming year another historic one. Please consider a donation in these weeks of global generosity. [watch the video] • [donate] Latest It’s Our Money podcast: A historic year for public banking. The latest It’s Our Money podcast takes a look back at the significance of this year. Co-host Walt McRee introduces the episode: History Was Made This Year: 2019 was the Centennial celebration of America’s only publicly-owned State Bank, the Bank of North Dakota — a living legacy that has helped sustain that state through thick and thin. It’s also the year that new public banks gained important ground from state governments and governors in two key states, New Jersey and California. And it’s the year that one of the Fed’s best-known leaders passed away, Paul Volcker, whose administration is credited with helping solve an inflation crisis in the 1970’s, a factoid that Ellen questions in her latest article. We celebrate the North Dakota history with a leisurely conversation with its Centennial historian, Mike Jacobs, whose deep knowledge of the Bank’s history provides instructive context for new public bank initiatives. [listen to the podcast] West Virginia candidate for governor running on public bank platform Is West Virginia the next state to elect a pro-public-bank governor? According to an opinion piece by Hoppy Kercheval in the Metro News, gubernatorial candidate Stephen Smith is running an impressive campaign, having held dozens of town hall meetings, organized volunteers throughout the state, and raised nearly one-half million dollars so far. His plan includes creating a publicly owned State Bank of West Virginia to provide “venture capital, forgivable loans, living stipends for arts and entrepreneurs, seed capital.” Smith’s platform reads: “At long last, we will open the State Bank of West Virginia to speed up small business growth, infrastructure financing, and eventually to start returning dividends to the people of our state. This is how we rebuild our economy.” [read the full article] Together, we can make 2020 the year public banks LAUNCH! Thank you for your crucial support this groundbreaking year. Your donation now can help us make 2020 the year new public banks are established. Please update recurring donations. With our new website launch, we have a new donation system, so please update your account if you have a recurring donation. DONATE TO SHARE: Share this newsletter: To share this newsletter, paste this link into your social media post: https://mailchi.mp/publicbankinginstitute/year-end-message PBI video: Public banking sweeps across the country. The fierce, dedicated, and determined public banking advocates across the country are leading the way to our future! To highlight the inspiring work and surging momentum of the nationwide public banking movement, PBI is proud to launch this short video that incorporates footage and photos collected from across the country. With it, we recognize the incredible achievements that advocates and elected officials have accomplished together and hope to inspire more support for public ownership of our financial institutions. 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! COMING PUBLIC BANKING EVENTS. Send your events to us: communications@publicbankinginstitute.org – We list as many events as we can. SOCIAL MEDIA: Public Banking Coalition monthly conference calls: Next call: Jan 10th 2020. 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 (5pm UK time) on the second Friday of each month. REGISTER. |
