PUBLIC BANKING UNIT III: THE ADVANTAGES OF PUBLIC BANKING

 

When we begin to see money as a public utility – Money becomes our Servant rather than our Master

 

Across the nation we watch as our roads and bridges, our public schools, our public water and sewer systems, our public parks and public buildings fall into disrepair. And across the nation we hear cities and states cry out – – “WE DON’T HAVE THE MONEY.”  It is the classic budget problem and the solutions for “we the people” are always austerity. They are always painful, ugly, and, in the long run, only exacerbate the issues:

  • Cut spending
  • Raise taxes
  • Sell off public assets
  • Borrow at high interest from Wall Street banks

 

But it doesn’t have to be this way. “We the People” can:

  • Invest in our own money in our own citizens
  • Cast off the wealth draining Wall Street banks
  • CREATE OUR OWN PUBLIC BANK

 

In Unit I of this series we looked at how the private banking industry creates money out of thin air through the process of fractional reserve banking, and in Unit II we discussed how the interest paid on money borrowed from Wall Street banks nearly doubles the cost of public projects. By creating our own public bank, our own “Bank of Wisconsin,” we can use fractional reserve lending to create our own money serving the public good, and the interest collected on this money can be paid back to ourselves. In the words of lawyer, author, and public banking expert Ellen Brown, public banking allows us to move “FROM AUSTERITY TO PROSPERITY.”

Here are but a few of the advantages inherent in establishing a public bank:

  • Use our own money in our own bank to create more money to serve the public interest through the process of fractional reserve banking and pay the interest on this money to ourselves
  • Borrow at the discount rate from the US Federal Reserve
  • Invest the state’s money in the state, lower state taxes and reduce state debt
  • Support municipalities and public schools, rebuild roads and infrastructure
  • Support private community banks
  • Support state farming and agriculture
  • Support state business and commerce
  • Finance low interest student loans

And if all of this seems like an unrealistically hopeful fantasy, we need look no farther than the century-old, living, breathing, Public Bank of North Dakota – the BND.

 

Unit IV will discuss: The Story of the Public Bank of North Dakota

To learn more about public banking visit the Public Banking Institute