Press Room & Media
In the News
Was the Fed Just Nationalized?
By Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt Blog – It took only a few days for Congress to unanimously pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which will be doling out $2.2 trillion in crisis relief, most of it going to Corporate America with few strings attached. What will individuals, families, communities and state and local governments be getting out of this massive bailout? Not much.
AFLEP Seeks to Leverage Public Banking to Revitalize and Reinvest in NM Communities
By Adam West, BadCredit.org – New Mexico’s public bank would be an institution that provides financial services to smaller local banks and credit unions. This model would leverage loans for small- and medium-sized businesses through those institutions, keeping capital circulating within local economies.
Bank of North Dakota Announces Student Loan Relief Options
By Bank of North Dakota – Bank of North Dakota (BND) shared its student loan relief plans to assist borrowers impacted by COVID-19 with the Industrial Commission today. Effective immediately, borrowers may request to defer payments for six months. “We understand this is an extremely challenging time for our borrowers and want to assist them,” states Eric Hardmeyer, BND president/CEO.
The Covid-19 Crisis Is a Chance to Do Capitalism Differently
By Mariana Mazzucato, The Guardian – We have an opportunity to use the COVID-19 crisis as a way to understand how to do capitalism differently. This requires a rethink of what governments are for: rather than simply fixing market failures when they arise, they should move towards actively shaping and creating markets that deliver sustainable and inclusive growth.
How Germany’s Public Bank Will Keep the Economy Afloat During the COVID-19 Outbreak
By Emer Scully, Daily Mail – Germany has promised its companies the biggest economic aid package in the country’s post-war history to help them cope with the impact of COVID-19. “Unlimited” credit has been offered to keep the country’s economy afloat during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
What a Public Bank Can Do for Real People
By Oscar Perry Abello, Yes! Magazine. – While there is certainly a lot that’s unique about Hazen, Union State Bank, and Obenauer’s path to becoming a fourth-generation community banker, it is not unusual in North Dakota to find a little bank punching far above its weight. That’s just how banking works in this state, largely because of the century-old Bank of North Dakota, the only state-owned bank in the country.
The Earth-Shaking Potential of Public Banks
By Alexander Kolokotronis, The Trouble. – Public banks do not serve to increase the supply of money and capital; they aim to restructure capital at its very core, by bringing democracy to finance. In the mistaken view, money is essentially private; the wealth of banks comes from individual deposits, which create the money that banks lend out. A network of public banks that competes with private banks could help the underbanked, connecting millions of people to financial services.
Mexico’s AMLO Shows How It’s Done
By Ellen Brown, CounterPunch – While U.S. advocates and local politicians struggle to get their first public banks chartered, Mexico’s new president has begun construction on 2,700 branches of a government-owned bank to be completed in 2021, when it will be the largest bank in the country. At a press conference on Jan. 6, he said the neoliberal model had failed; private banks were not serving the poor and people outside the cities, so the government had to step in.
New York Is Proposing the Creation of a ‘Public Venmo’
By Jordana Rosenfeld, VICE – Lawmakers and activists are proposing a digital payment platform and currency to help millions of New Yorkers without bank accounts. For millions of people in the US, exclusion from the banking system is simply a fact of life. An estimated 14 million US adults don’t have bank accounts, forcing them to rely on exploitative check-cashing and payday loan services that charge high interest rates—and thus, eat away at funds needed for food, rent, and medical expenses. Lawmakers in New York are trying to correct this with a new bill that would create a “public Venmo” system designed to include more people in the formal economy and stimulate local economic growth. If passed, it would create the country’s first publicly owned electronic banking platform, as well as a digital currency that can be exchanged for goods and services within the state.
11 bankers and disruptors to watch in 2020
American Banker – Bankers will want to keep an eye on New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who campaigned on a pledge for a public bank and hasn’t backed off in the two years since. Specifically, bankers will want to monitor developments out of New Jersey’s new Public Bank Implementation Board. The first real step toward a public bank in the state was Murphy’s creation of that task force via executive order in November. Later this year, the 14-member board should deliver a plan for making a public bank happen, addressing capitalization needs, governance and operational structure. The details of the plan could be copied in other states. In California, municipalities now have a framework to create public banks thanks to a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in October.
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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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