Reply #4: The private banks are receiving substantial subsidies in the form of "interest". [View All]

[TexasTowelie]

Interest on the national debt: The federal government must make regular interest payments on the money it has borrowed to finance past deficits — that is, on the national debt held by the public, which reached $9 trillion by the end of fiscal 2010. In 2010, these interest payments claimed $196 billion, or about 6 percent of the budget.

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1258


If $196 billion is not impressive enough, think about the multiplier effect of that money as it flows through the economy.

Furthermore, that $196 billion is for only one year (2010). Even though the interest payments were smaller in prior years, there is also an exponential effect that would have built up throughout the decades if this subtle redistribution of wealth to private banks had not occurred.

Then there are the other issues that are harder to quantify--the effects of being able to spend more money on education, infrastructure and social welfare programs, increased exports due to a weakened dollar...

The money in those banks belongs to the people. If would be interesting to see what would happened to the big banks if there was an organized movement by people with bank accounts to withdraw their liquid assets and stuff it in the mattress for a week or so.