PBI’s Annual Public Banking Conference 2013, June 2-4, 2013, San Rafael, CA. Please join us!

Public Banking Institute • PublicBankingInstitute.org

How DO we improve the economic livelihoods of millions of people? Reclaim the “money power” with publicly-owned banks. A network of publicly-owned banks across the United States holds the promise of local abundance, sustainable productivity, and the democratization of our economy.

Join the world’s pioneering policy thinkers, interested and informed citizens, civic leaders, banking entrepreneurs, and innovators for PBI’s Public Banking Conference 2013: Funding the New Economy in San Rafael, CA, June 2-4.

Also, please note there is a special event on Sunday evening, June 2, open to the public, featuring our special guests, Matt Taibbi, Birgitta Jonsdottir, and Ellen Brown, 7-9:30pm. Tickets for this kick-off event will be sold separately.

Register here.

Creating a Finance System That Serves the People, Part II: Remaking the Federal Reserve, Building Public Banks and Opting Out of Wall Street

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers • www.truth-out.org • April 17, 2013

In Part I of this series, we examined breaking up the too-big-to-fail-or- jail banks, regulating them – especially their massive and risky derivatives trading – and more aggressively enforcing laws and regulations against security fraud.

In Part II, we examine how to remake the Federal Reserve into a transparent, democratic institution that serves the necessities of the people and the economy, not just the bankers; how to develop public banks in every state and many cities throughout the nation; and how people can opt out of Wall Street right now.

Read the entire article here.

Before Next Crash, Create Finance System That Serves Public, Part I: Shrink, Regulate Banks, and Enforce Law

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers • www.truth-out.org • April 10, 2013

Big finance – the too-big-to-jail banks that dominate the economy and government – is designed for financiers and does not benefit most people. That is why many are in rebellion against the looting class of Wall Street. But if we don’t like Wall Street finance, what would we replace it with? What would a finance system that served and protected the people look like?

It is time to put together a new kind of financial system. Since the crash of 2008, not only do fraud and high-risk investments continue with little regulation and lax enforcement, but policies that protect people have weakened. Experts predict that another collapse of the big banks is very possible. In our fragile economy, another crash could have devastating consequences.

The ideas we put forward in this series of articles are not final, but are a work in progress. In part I, we focus on approaches to regulation and breaking up the too-big-to-fail banks, as well as on the risk that derivatives pose to depositors. In part II, we will discuss the Federal Reserve, public banks, and ways to opt out of Wall Street now.

Read the entire article here.

Britain’s Post Office to offer current (bank) accounts

www.bbc.co.uk • April 10, 2013

The Post Office is to offer current accounts in the UK, following a regulator’s claim that the market offers little choice for consumers.

The new account, provided by Bank of Ireland, will be available in some areas in the coming weeks before a wider launch next year.

Few details have been released about the characteristics of the current account at this stage.

In January, a regulator said the market was dominated by a few providers.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said that Lloyds, RBS, Barclays and HSBC held 75% of the market.

This led to a “lack of dynamism” from the banks, it said, together with a lack of choice for customers, meaning they were unlikely to switch to a different bank.

The Post Office, which has 11,500 branches, already offers a range of financial products in a link with Bank of Ireland.

Some three million Post Office customers already use products such as savings accounts, mortgages and insurance policies.

Read the entire article here.

It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors

Ellen Brown • http://www.huffingtonpost.com • April 3, 2013

Confiscating the customer deposits in Cyprus banks, it seems, was not a one-off, desperate idea of a few eurozone troika officials scrambling to salvage their balance sheets. A joint paper by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Bank of England dated December 10, 2012, shows that these plans have been long in the making; that they originated with the G20 Financial Stability Board in Basel, Switzerland (discussed earlier here); and that the result will be to deliver clear title to the banks of depositor funds. New Zealand has a similar directive, discussed earlier here.

Read the entire article here.

School districts pay dearly for bonds…ANOTHER reason for publicly-owned banks!

Trey Bundy and Shane Shifflett, California Watch • http://www.sfgate.com • January 31, 2013

The Napa Valley Unified School District had a quandary: The district needed a new high school in American Canyon, but taxpayers appeared unwilling to take the financial hit required to build it.

So in 2009, the district took out an unusual loan: $22 million with no payments due for 21 years. By 2049, when the debt is paid, it will have cost taxpayers $154 million – seven times the amount borrowed.

…This form of borrowing has created billions of dollars in debt for taxpayers and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for financial advisers and underwriters. Voters are usually unaware of the bonds’ high interest. At least one state, Michigan, has banned their use.

Read the entire article here.

PBI Newsletter, March 2013: TPP and Public Banks, Cyprus, Letter from a Vermont Farmer, and more…

PBI Newsletter, March 2013 • PublicBankingInstitute.org • March 29, 2013

The PBI (Public Banking Institute) March 2013 Newsletter is here!
Sign up for the Newsletter here.