Two new video channels launched as PBI expands media to support growing movement
Our movement for Public Banks is growing rapidly and so PBI is expanding our media reach to help lead and support these shifts. To start, we’ve launched two new Public Banking Institute video channels on Vimeo and on YouTube. Please subscribe / follow!
These channels will feature short, sharable videos we’re producing, include insightful interviews with Chair Ellen Brown and other thought-leaders, as well as collect useful videos from around the web that help tell the Public Banking story and show its progress. The first of these short videos — What Is a Public Bank? … [read more]
Public Banking in the News: Will Public Banking Bring More Clean Energy Programs to California?
The recent forum in Oakland that featured Wolfram Morales of Sparkasse, the German Public Bank network, prompted an excellent write up in Sharable with plenty of great quotes. Read and share.
“A public bank can really create community wealth in ways other institutions are not capable off,” said Gregory Rosen, the founder of High Noon Advisors, a local consulting firm with experience in clean energy investing. “It can help people of different backgrounds and income levels come together, for the good of the community.” [read more]
Ellen Brown: How to Wipe Out Puerto Rico’s Debt Without Hurting Bondholders
Chair Ellen Brown shed her timely perspective and out-of-the-box thinking onto the Puerto Rican crisis, recently published in TruthDig:
“[President Trump] was just pointing out the obvious. As economist Michael Hudson says, “Debts that can’t be paid won’t be paid.” Puerto Rico is bankrupt, its economy destroyed. In fact it is currently in bankruptcy proceedings with its creditors. Which suggests it’s time for some more out-of-the-box thinking. …
“Puerto Rico’s debt is only $73 billion, one third the Italian debt. The Fed has stopped its quantitative easing program, but in its last round (called “QE3”), it was buying $85 billion per month in securities. At that rate, it would have to fire up the digital printing presses for only one additional month to rescue the suffering Puerto Ricans without hurting bondholders at all. It could then just leave the bonds on its books, declaring a moratorium at least until Puerto Rico got back on its feet, and better yet, indefinitely. …” [read more]
What Wall St Costs America: Wells Fargo “definitely qualifies” to be shut down
After watching the repeated scandals of Wells Fargo, some members in Congress have had enough. A new bill gives power to the Fed to shut down megabanks. On Oct 4, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services Maxine Waters (D-Ca), introduced The Megabank Accountability and Consequences Act, reported in HousingWire.
“There are people who have literally concluded that these megabanks are above the law,” Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Al Green (D-Tx), said. [read more]
What Wall St Costs America: Ralph Nader: How CEO Stock Buybacks Parasitize the Economy
Hyper enrichment of a handful of radical corporate state supremacists wasn’t what classical capitalism was supposed to be about. So says Ralph Nader in his recent take down of corporate money siphons on Evonomics.
Ralph Nader:
“In a massive conflict of interest between greedy top corporate executives and their own company, CEO-driven stock buybacks extract capital from corporations instead of contributing capital for corporate needs, as the capitalist theory would dictate. …
“CEOs can take trillions of dollars away from productive pursuits without even having to ask the companies’ owners—the shareholders—for approval.” [read more]
Want to get involved? Register to join our monthly Coalition conference calls.
Once a month, PBI hosts an hour-long Public Banking Coalition conference call when we introduce the concept of Public Banks, discuss current issues and give updates on the advances being made for Public Banks all across the country. Calls take place at 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT on 2nd Fridays of each month.