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Public Banking for Santa Fe: An Interfaith Forum
We’re looking at the latest push for a public bank for the City of Santa Fe … Last Wednesday City Councilor Renee Villarreal re-introduced a proposal to create a task force to determine what it would look like to launch a public bank. The following evening the advocacy group Banking on New Mexico hosted an interfaith dialogue about public banking and economic justice.
The People’s Bank
How did deep-red North Dakota end up with the nation’s most populist financial institution?
When the financial crisis struck in 2008, nearly every state legislature was left contending with massive revenue shortfalls. Every state legislature, that is, except North Dakota’s. In 2009, while other states were slashing budgets, North Dakota enjoyed its largest surplus. All through the Great Recession, as credit dried up and middle-class Americans lost their homes, the conservative, rural state chugged along with a low foreclosure rate and abundant credit for entrepreneurs looking for loans.
Donald Trump Wants to Gut Protections for Bank Customers. Here’s How to Fight Back.
With Wall Street as greedy as it ever was, and the Trump administration seeking to ditch banking restrictions enacted in 2008 to protect the little people, a handful of cities are considering a do-it-yourself alternative: Public banking is just what it sounds like—financial institutions owned and operated by a government entity. Officials in Philadelphia and Oakland, California, are taking a hard look at the idea, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, has done a feasibility study that concluded a city-run bank would benefit the community, socially and economically. If done right, the report found, the bank would create a “robust local lending climate” and bring in millions of dollars per year in revenue.
Cities and States Prefer Public Banks to Wall Street
Alarmed by the corruption and greed of Wall Street, many US cities and states are studying the feasibility of establishing public banks.
It’s Our Money: Can History Please Not Repeat Itself?
Ellen’s guest Jim Hogue, an author, broadcaster and historian, recounts how the struggle for control of finance rocked the early American colonies and precipitated a permanent war footing enabled by big finance.
Banking in North Dakota
North Dakota is one of the three most conservative states in the United States, according to Gallup. Wyoming is number one, with self-identified conservatives outnumbering self-identified liberals by 35 percentage points. In North Dakota and Mississippi, the percentage is 31 points.
Yet many progressive social and environmental activists look to an old North Dakota institution for inspiration. That’s the Bank of North Dakota (BND). It is the only publicly owned bank in the United States.
Beyond Wells Fargo, City of Seattle’s banking options unclear
Councilmember Mike O’Brien shared one idea during the packed committee vote last week.
O’Brien: “I still think the best option is a public owned bank.”
There’s a proposed bill in Olympia to create a state-run, public bank in Washington. Senator Bob Hasegawa has proposed the idea. At the committee vote on Wells Fargo last week, O’Brien took advantage of the moment and encouraged people to lobby for the bill.
Oakland Plans for Publicly Owned Bank, Thursday, Feb. 9
Oakland residents are showing growing interest in in a plan to establish a public bank, which would provide an alternative to handing millions of dollars of city money to Wall Street each year.
Residents have been studying the idea and organizing support for it for a number years. Now, Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan has embraced the concept, and she is hosting a forum to discuss the benefits of creating a publically owned bank in Oakland, Thursday, Feb. 9, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. in Hearing Room 3 at Oakland City Hall.
How to Cut Infrastructure Costs in Half
The reality of how money is created today differs from the description found in some economics textbooks: Rather than banks receiving deposits when households save and then lending them out, bank lending creates deposits. . . . Whenever a bank makes a loan, it simultaneously creates a matching deposit in the borrower’s bank account, thereby creating new money.
Public banks help communities thrive. Why aren’t there more?
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the idea of creating a public bank has been proposed in dozens of states across the country. Cities including Santa Fe, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle are also exploring the option.
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Episode: Everyone deserves a public bank
“I had the good fortune to work on this initiative before Bernie kidnapped all my time. This is one of those no-brainer initiatives that only the 1% could oppose. It has the potential to save the state millions of dollars by vastly reducing the cost of its bonds to improve infrastructure funding. in a public bank, our state funds can be used to build our local economy and our local infrastructure.”
– Paul Gibson
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