Public Banking - Yea or Nay?

I truly believe this is a 'Social Issue' not a "Global Meltdown' issue but expect to find the post moved. The 'Global Meltdown' forum implies that economic issues can only lead to a 'meltdown' but not that economic strategies can and do occasionally lend themselves to improving society. Moderators - please consider a simple 'Economics Forum' as economics really is the driving forces behind everything we do and we need to look to the long term in order to survive.

Public Banking

On July 4th, 2018, Ellen Brown wrote in an article “A Public Bank for Los Angeles? City Council puts it to the Voters was published in several online new aggregate sites. The article was promoted as a means of dealing legally with Cannabis income Ms. Brown has been a long time advocate of Public Banking.

Voters in Los Angeles will be the first in the country to weigh in on a public banking mandate, after the City Council agreed on June 29th to put a measure on the November ballot that would allow the city to form its own bank. 

The bank is expected to save the city millions, if not billions, of dollars in Wall Street fees and interest paid to bondholders, while injecting new money into the local economy, generating jobs and expanding the tax base. It could respond to the needs of its residents by reinvesting in low-income housing, critical infrastructure projects, and clean energy, as well as serving as a depository for the cannabis industry.

ellenbrown.com...

A Public Bank for LA has long been on-deck, so to speak, and the massive influx of cash in legal medical and recreational cannabis sales with no truly legal banking option (no federally or state chartered bank can take receipts from a legal cannabis operation because the Federal Reserve will not issue a ‘Master Account’ to them) has led to a renewed and urgent search for a solution. A solution that will provide cascading benefits to our local communities by providing an alternative to ‘For-Profit’ banks.

publicbankla.com...

The Public Bank LA is an entirely different proposal from what has been proposed at a State level that is simply aimed at keeping and gathering easily State Employment Taxes, Sales Taxes and the like.

www.sacbee.com...

The benefits of true public banks are vast and many of them, and more information can be found at “The Public Banking Institute”:

www.publicbankinginstitute.org...

Rather than extracting wealth from a community as big private banks do, interest and fees are reinvested in the local community by way of low cost loans to business low cost funding for public works all the while providing individuals with low cost banking services.

People over Profit

www.thenation.com...

www.fastcompany.com...

www.americanbanker.com...

I strongly believe that Public Bank (and indeed US Postal Service Banking) is a solution to many of the problems of ‘Financializiation ’ of, well, everything, in the US.

I’d like to hear what other people think. Even knowing a lot of responses will be conditioned knee-jerk reactions, I do look forward to a few solid replies with points of view I haven’t seen yet.

a reply to: FyreByrd

Seems like a pretty cool idea. I'm not sure i understand entirely how it works but why not? More choice is always good. And i'd rather see my money invested in things that benefit me as opposed to lining some ceo's pockets. I mean banks use my money anyway, might as well be for things that are local. Then again the way things work in theory and the way things work in practice sometimes end up totally different. But it seems as long as public banks aren't forced and other options also exist I can't see why it wouldn't be beneficial to have an alternative that, at least in theory, benefits the local area. I mean you'd hope it'd be better than some giant multinational bank but I suppose you never really know.

The concept of banking is obsolete.

The concept of government banking is well understood as a theory of economics, it just isn't any different than private banking with respect to its obsolescence.

Public Banking - Yea or Nay?

Nay.

Options already exist.

Credit unions.

Crypto currency.

originally posted by: dug88
a reply to: FyreByrd

Seems like a pretty cool idea. I'm not sure i understand entirely how it works but why not? More choice is always good. And i'd rather see my money invested in things that benefit me as opposed to lining some ceo's pockets. I mean banks use my money anyway, might as well be for things that are local. Then again the way things work in theory and the way things work in practice sometimes end up totally different. But it seems as long as public banks aren't forced and other options also exist I can't see why it wouldn't be beneficial to have an alternative that, at least in theory, benefits the local area. I mean you'd hope it'd be better than some giant multinational bank but I suppose you never really know.

Look into it more and you will like the idea more. A simple solution that helps people without hurting the fat cats unduely.

originally posted by: neo96
Public Banking - Yea or Nay?

Nay.

Options already exist.

Credit unions.

Crypto currency.

All of which are insufficient for funding public works and providing services to the local community.

All of which, excepting Credit Unions, extract wealth from local communities rather then reinvesting in the same comunity.

originally posted by: projectvxn
The concept of banking is obsolete.

The concept of government banking is well understood as a theory of economics, it just isn't any different than private banking with respect to its obsolescence.

How is it obsolete?

And economics is not a static science, if you can even call it that. Read some of the references and educate yourself before passing judgement.

Remember "Knee Jerk" reactions, weothj.

Here is an example, in the US of a successful Public Bank. One that allowed the State of North Dakota to weather the 'long recession' with little disruption:

www.nytimes.com...

Here's a page from the NY Times from 2013 that offers several differing opinion on Public Banking...

w.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/10/01/should-states-operate-public-banks

So that you may intelligently support your opinion whatever it is.

originally posted by: projectvxn
The concept of banking is obsolete.

Yeah basically, now that everyone is carrying around a device in their pockets that can function as their own personal bank. That's the beauty of cryptocurrencies.

cryptocurrency is public banking, it's the techgeeks finger to the man and the solution to a issue of trust in a digitally open world.

we will develop it further, already we are working behind the scenes to make something that you all wont even know runs on a blockchain, but allows you to see that someone did goto school where they say or that company is behind that ad you just saw and even onwards into selling your data and even a universal basic income...

public banking is nice, when its built on code that's opensource...

An article on the Public Banking initiative in New York City:

public bank for the city, on the other hand, would be a publicly operated financial institution that would hold funds belonging to the city and disburse them across public projects and community-based organizations based on citizens’ actual needs.

Its lending decisions would be undertaken through a transparent, City-run authority, accountable to taxpayers.

By managing all city taxes, fees, and local revenues (which are currently spread around various accounts with corporate banks), the public bank would aim to provide an alternative, socially oriented financial resource for the city’s economy.

To say nothing of the savings in fees and interest on debt paid into private hands for the city and it's citizens.

www.thenation.com...

originally posted by: Tranceopticalinclined
cryptocurrency is public banking, it's the techgeeks finger to the man and the solution to a issue of trust in a digitally open world.

we will develop it further, already we are working behind the scenes to make something that you all wont even know runs on a blockchain, but allows you to see that someone did goto school where they say or that company is behind that ad you just saw and even onwards into selling your data and even a universal basic income...

public banking is nice, when its built on code that's opensource...

It excludes those (primarily though not exclusively) without ready access to the internet. It cannot be usee, as it stands today, in the place of a checking, savings, or credit account for an individual or a business, let alone a city or state.

I do like and would actively support and Public Banking 'code' to be open source. Thank you.

a reply to: FyreByrd

I have plenty of education on just this subject.

This isn't "knee-jerk". Banking as a concept for tax collection and governmental use isn't new.

Banking, in general, is already obsolete, but the financial infrastructure hasn't caught on yet. Give it time.

originally posted by: trollz

originally posted by: projectvxn
The concept of banking is obsolete.

Yeah basically, now that everyone is carrying around a device in their pockets that can function as their own personal bank. That's the beauty of cryptocurrencies.

That 'device in their pocket' is mearly a 'portal' into a banking system, not the bank.

originally posted by: FyreByrd

originally posted by: Tranceopticalinclined
cryptocurrency is public banking, it's the techgeeks finger to the man and the solution to a issue of trust in a digitally open world.

we will develop it further, already we are working behind the scenes to make something that you all wont even know runs on a blockchain, but allows you to see that someone did goto school where they say or that company is behind that ad you just saw and even onwards into selling your data and even a universal basic income...

public banking is nice, when its built on code that's opensource...

It excludes those (primarily though not exclusively) without ready access to the internet. It cannot be usee, as it stands today, in the place of a checking, savings, or credit account for an individual or a business, let alone a city or state.

I do like and would actively support and Public Banking 'code' to be open source. Thank you.

Now, yes it does, however, now, it's all in it's infancy, users are alpha testing these concepts, from cryptokitties ( a trading card game doing more than just showing off digital collectibles, to DAO - Digitally Automated Organizations, where their rules and operations are run and governed via their blockchain, where their rules are encoded and actions are voted upon )

We need this to evolve as it will spur further innovation in the space, I'd even make the use case that public banking on the blockchain, could even spur a free global internet, via a few ways, one namely, is the sharing and allocation of ALL devices worldwide and the payment of said usage of that inter-connectivity.

It's getting pretty interesting for sure!

***that device is part of the bank, if they're miners...***

a reply to: FyreByrd

How is this different from a credit union?

Credit Unions are about as close as I want to get to public banking.
I am not in favor of it....where is the oversight?

originally posted by: Tranceopticalinclined

originally posted by: FyreByrd

originally posted by: Tranceopticalinclined
cryptocurrency is public banking, it's the techgeeks finger to the man and the solution to a issue of trust in a digitally open world.

we will develop it further, already we are working behind the scenes to make something that you all wont even know runs on a blockchain, but allows you to see that someone did goto school where they say or that company is behind that ad you just saw and even onwards into selling your data and even a universal basic income...

public banking is nice, when its built on code that's opensource...

It excludes those (primarily though not exclusively) without ready access to the internet. It cannot be usee, as it stands today, in the place of a checking, savings, or credit account for an individual or a business, let alone a city or state.

I do like and would actively support and Public Banking 'code' to be open source. Thank you.

Now, yes it does, however, now, it's all in it's infancy, users are alpha testing these concepts, from cryptokitties ( a trading card game doing more than just showing off digital collectibles, to DAO - Digitally Automated Organizations, where their rules and operations are run and governed via their blockchain, where their rules are encoded and actions are voted upon )

We need this to evolve as it will spur further innovation in the space, I'd even make the use case that public banking on the blockchain, could even spur a free global internet, via a few ways, one namely, is the sharing and allocation of ALL devices worldwide and the payment of said usage of that inter-connectivity.

It's getting pretty interesting for sure!

***that device is part of the bank, if they're miners...***

I agree that it is interesting - but it's not going to fix much as far as I can see. Right now it just a crap-shoot.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: FyreByrd

How is this different from a credit union?

Credit Unions are about as close as I want to get to public banking.
I am not in favor of it....where is the oversight?

I love Credit Unions (which are owned by their depositors), but credit unions are very limited in the scope of the services they can offer. The banking industry lobbies heavily against them.

They are great for individual acccounts but can no longer (there were able in the past) to provide any business services and that is a huge slice of the market.

Public Banks would be able to provide all the services any major bank can up to and including the providing the underwritting of Bonds and cash outlays to fund public projects. They could provide pension funds, and all manner of benefits to the little guy to the C-suite.

The big kicker is that all the Fees and Interest for all those activities would flow back into the Public Bank were they'd be recirculated into the local economy and not into huge international financial institutions.

I agree.

Doesn't North Dakota have a state bank that operates close to this. I wonder how that is faring?

If you could make this a non profit, zero sum game then YEA. If this could be provided to the people without the governments, even it is just state, from being able to create money out of thin air to supply their own pet projects, this would be a huge success. The moment the government can extract funds from this structure, it is all over and will shortly resemble what we have currently.