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marmar

(76,985 posts)
Sat Apr 20, 2013, 10:47 AM Apr 2013

Remaking the Federal Reserve, Building Public Banks and Opting Out of Wall Street


Remaking the Federal Reserve, Building Public Banks and Opting Out of Wall Street

Wednesday, 17 April 2013 00:00
By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Truthout | Op-Ed


Creating a Finance System That Serves the People, Part II


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.

.....(snip).....

Transform the Federal Reserve

A fundamental question for the new finance system is the role of the Federal Reserve and whether it should remain in private hands. The Federal Reserve is a privately owned US central bank that acts behind closed doors to create money and set interest rates, and it presently puts the interests of the big banks first. The Federal Reserve was originally created by Congress in 1913 and can be altered, nationalized or even dismantled by Congress.

The Fed is a private entity that is controlled by the banks. The 12 Regional Reserve Banks issue shares of stock to its member banks. The Fed is not operated for profit, and the stock may not be sold, traded or pledged as security for a loan. It does pay dividends that are, by law, 6 percent per year. But more importantly, the stock provides banks with votes to elect six of the nine members of the board of governors of the regional banks.

.....(snip).....

Public Banking: A Public Bank in Every State

Ellen Brown, the president of the Public Banking Institute, argues that we need a public bank in every state and major city. The United States has one model for public banking: the bank of North Dakota. When North Dakota farmers were losing farms to Wall Street, they organized a populist movement, and in 1919, set up the bank of North Dakota. The publicly owned bank recycles state revenues into credit for the state. Thus, North Dakotans keep their money in their community.

The result has been an ongoing success. Even during the current economic collapse, North Dakota escaped the credit crisis and has maintained a budget surplus since 2008, low unemployment and no public debt. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/15781-remaking-the-federal-reserve-public-banks-and-opting-out-of-wall-street



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