More States May Create Public Banks

More States May Create Public Banks
By Ellen Brown
May 13, 2010

By 2011, only one state will have escaped the credit crunch that is pushing other states toward insolvency: North Dakota. North Dakota is also the only state that owns its own bank. The state has its own credit machine, making it independent of the Wall Street banking crisis that has infected the rest of the country.

Now, several states are either studying the prospects of a state-owned bank or are considering legislation to make one possible.

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State-owned bank drawing interest

State-owned bank drawing interest
North Dakota’s socialist experiment has new appeal
Dale Wetzel
Associated Press
February 17, 2010

BISMARCK, N.D. – It has no automatic tellers or drive-up windows, doesn’t issue credit cards, and tends only a few thousand checking and savings accounts. Its only location is a glass, steamboat-shaped headquarters near the Missouri River, where the business moved from its original 1919 home in a former auto assembly plant.

The Bank of North Dakota – the nation’s only state-owned bank – might seem to be a relic. It was the brainchild of a failed flax farmer and one-time Socialist Party organizer during World War I.

But now officials in other states are wondering if it is helping North Dakota sail through the national recession.

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Expert testimony: Should Vermont form a state-owned bank?

Expert testimony: Should Vermont form a state-owned bank?
By Opinion January 25, 2010

Editor’s note: The following is Cairn Cross’ written testimony submitted to the Legislature on Jan. 22. Cross is a former banker and a founder of the venture capital firm FreshTracks Capital.

The Bank of North Dakota is owned and operated by the State of North Dakota under the supervision of the Industrial Commission as provided by Chapter 6-09 of the North Dakota Century Code. The Bank of North Dakota combines elements of banking, fiduciary, investment management services, and other financial services, and state government and plays a primary role in financing economic development.

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