Public Banking Can Democratize the Economy

Sharable.net - In the wake of the financial crisis that the U.S. is still clawing its way out of, a handful of ideas have begun to surface that might actually shore up our still-floundering economy and, potentially, avert future devastation. (No, not the eminently gutless Dodd-Frank bill.) Rather, public banks — also known as state banks or partnership banks — provide a path for the people to harness some economic power of their own in order to build a broad-based, ground-level prosperity which is rooted in their community.

John David, of the Public Banking Institute, recently outlined the basic public banking model for Shareable in great and accessible detail. As evidence of the almost 100 years of success of the Bank of North Dakota (BND), David writes, “Currently, North Dakota ― in part due to the BND’s beneficent influence ― has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation (just over 4%), has no debt to service, has a $1.1 billion surplus, has experienced no bank failures in the state, and is the only state in the last two years to avoid a budget deficit.” Basically, while so many other states were capsizing on the waves of job loss and crashing on the rocks of failed mortgages, North Dakota maintained a smooth and steady course.  Read more.