Mar 28, 2015. Public banking allies in Canada are currently waging a feisty legal battle to turn the Bank of Canada back into a public bank, as it was originally intended. And they’re surviving attempt after attempt by the Canadian government to shoot down the lawsuit. Previously, only alternative media were reporting the story of …
Mar 28, 2015. 2014 found the movement for public banking growing throughout the nation. Discouraged by foot-dragging and reversals on national banking reform, and alarmed over continuing municipal budgetary shortfalls, groups in New Mexico, Washington state and elsewhere stepped up efforts to put public banks on their cities’ and states’ agendas. These local groups were …
As Momentum Grows, Public Bank Supporters Should Stay the Course in the Face of Opposition Read More
Mar 28, 2015. A bill providing that Illinois state funds be deposited into a public bank, to be called the Community Bank of Illinois, had its first reading on January 14, 2015, then went to the Financial Institutions on March 10 where, after hearings featuring well-known Chicago activist Amara Enyia and others, the bill moved …
llinois State Legislators Advance Public Banking Bill Read More
Mar 22, 2015. Public banking is not an end in itself. Some supporters see it as an engine of traditional economic growth. The Bank of North Dakota, for example, facilitated infrastructure development for that state’s oil boom. Not everyone loves oil economies, but BND was there when the state needed to accommodate rapid development of …
In 2015, New Perspectives on Public Banking as Engine of Change, New Living Read More
Mar 17, 2015. At the beginning of March, responding to the impressive wave of state-level public banking movements in the news, Mark Calabria of the Cato Institute wrote a template that became two different published OpEds. The Denver Post titled Calabria’s piece “Colorado would be wise to reject state-owned banking,”while American Banker titled the piece …
Mar 17, 2015. Last week, Occupy published my essay on the disastrous effects–and fiscal causes–of water privatization. The cause of water shut-offs in Detroit and elsewhere, water contamination, and other hurdles to universal access to H2O, I argued, were not found in some “natural” level of resource scarcity. Rather, water crises result “from local governments …
Keeping the Water Running: Public Banking as an Alternative to Privatization Read More
Mar 17, 2015. After seven years of economic instability caused by irresponsible financial practices, the big banks haven’t learned their lesson, and neither have many policymakers. Legislation enacted at the end of 2014 allows Wall Street banks to hold risky assets (such as interest rate swaps and other derivatives) in the banking unit backstopped by …
Mar 14, 2015. With new news of public banking advances in different states and cities coming almost weekly, it’s easy to lose sight of ongoing progress in Pennsylvania, where the very first Public Banking Institute conference took place in 2012, and where public banking advocacy is constantly happening throughout the state. But according to Mike …
In Pennsylvania, Something’s Always Going On with Public Banking Read More
Mar 14, 2015. For many years now, the state of Maine has been fertile ground for economic innovation. Public banking has been part of that story, and 2015 has featured passionate speeches, intelligent advocacy, and hard-hitting economic analysis. Randall Parr has been instrumental in keeping the movement alive and, importantly, in communicating goings-on in Maine …
Mar 10, 2015. An hour ago, Amara Enyia, organizer and former Mayoral candidate in Chicago, and a longtime supporter of public banking, who had testified before the Financial Institutions Committee today on the Community Bank of Illinois Act, reported the following to me from Springfield, Illinois: I’m pleased to announce that with Rep. [Mary] Flowers’ …
Exclusive: Public Banking Bill Moves Forward in Illinois State Assembly Read More
Mar 5, 2015. Our sources in Chicago and Springfield tell us that Illinois State Representative Mary Flowers has re-introduced the Community Bank of Illinois Act to the state’s General Assembly. The bill Provides that State funds must be deposited in the Bank. Contains provisions concerning the nonliability of officers and sureties after deposit. Specifies the …
