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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.
Follow The Money
The most exciting benefit of a public bank for Santa Fe is the fact that chartered banks actually create new money through a process called “fractional reserve banking.” When getting my MBA in finance, professors talked about it. Wikipedia, Bank of England and others have excellent online articles about this practice. It would multiply the […]
An open letter to the city of Seattle: Dump Wells Fargo and start our own bank
We propose that the city of Seattle charter its own bank, a public bank, that can not only manage the city’s deposits but can expand the money available for needed projects such as affordable housing and public infrastructure.
Cash Withdrawal
“WHEN THE CITY HAS MONEY INVOLVED WITH BANKS THAT INVEST IN PROJECTS HARMFUL TO OUR COMMUNITY AND COUNTER TO THE WILL OF OUR CITY, WE NEED TO LOOK AT VIABLE ALTERNATIVES.” -MAYOR JAVIER GONZALES
The homegrown promise of a Seattle public bank
PUBLIC banks have an excellent track record in helping states and cities finance infrastructure, among other public services.
What Donald Trump Owes Wall Street
Wells Fargo. JPMorgan Chase. Fidelity Investments. Prudential PLC. Vanguard Group. These are among the major financial institutions that own business debt held by Donald Trump, according to an investigation just published by the Wall Street Journal.
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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
Retake Our Democracy