Big private banks might be too-big-to-fail, and might be even too-big-to-jail (prosecute). But they are not-too-big-to-abandon….

by CCC4MR
image: http://i1.wp.com/www.kitchener.ca/uploads/634934100466971703_Final.jpg

Waterloo Region Record (TheRecord.com) staff writer Paige Desmond reports:

“Region of Waterloo councillors vote Wednesday (4 March 2015) to approve the 2015 budget and set the spending tone for this term of council. The last term of council hiked taxes 8.9 per cent and this council is expected to start things off with a 2.5 per cent increase—above the 2.4 per cent rate of inflation for 2014. That would add about $44.68 to the property tax bill on a home assessed at $291,000. ‘It’s a big operation. There’s a lot going on at the region, so that’s well within our guidelines and I think we’re in a good shape,’  Councillor Geoff Lorentz said. Top fiscal pressures include debt servicing [i.e. paying a high compounded interest (usury) on the debt to a private commercial bank],rapid transit and staff compensation, though more debate is expected on requests from staff, community organizations and councillors, Lorentz said. Council voted to hikewater and waste water rates by 4.9 per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively in February, staying on track with a plan to increase water rates up to 45 per cent over 10 years.”  
The Region of Waterloo’s debt is fast approaching $700 million, and is rapidly growing as you read this. Debt servicing (i.e. paying a high compounded interest (usury) on the debt to a private commercial bank) will cost the region about $62 million this year. Of that, about $48 million will come from taxpayers. And where will the remaining $14 million in interest payments come from? This huge debt is due to regional government borrowing from private banks at high compounded interest.
Big private banks might be too-big-to-fail, and according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, they might be even too-big-to-jail (prosecute). But they are not-too-big-to-abandon as depositories for government funds. As of the spring of 2010, North Dakota was the only US state sporting a major budget surplus; it had the lowest unemployment and default rates in the US. Why? If the State of North Dakota can bypass Wall Street with its  state-owned public bank (BND), and declare financial independence, so can the Region of Waterloo, Kitchener, Toronto, Ontario, and all other cities and provinces across Canada bypass Bay Street.
Is creating a new bank in Canada too much trouble, perhaps? Apparently not so. Not even for a Canadian grocery store. Loblaw’s bank, President’s Choice Financial, was ranked by J.D. Power Associates, as having the highest customer satisfaction among mid-size Canadian banks several years in a row.

Would creating a public bank in Kitchener be worth the effort? Don’t we have enough banks in Kitchener and in our region already?

Let’s do some math, and see.
Let’s imagine that the Region of Waterloo, and some of small and medium-size businesses, as well as some individual customers, bring their banking business to the Mackenzie King Regional Public Bank of Kitchener. For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that total deposits at the bank would be 100 million dollars.
Now comes the really sweet part. Due to the “Alchemy” of fractional-reserve bankinglaws, our Mackenzie King Regional Public Bank of Kitchener would be allowed toexpand those 100 million dollars on its balance sheet by a traditional and conservative factor of 20, and actually create so-called new money, out of thin air. That would be a nice, round sum of 2 Billion dollars, interest-free, and tax-free. Do you know of any other business better than this one?
What could the Region of Waterloo do with all this extra interest-free money that would suddenly be in possesion of? It could pay off its entire regional debt, fully finance its budget interest-free, lower the ever-growing property taxes, finance additional social programs and benefits for the poor, and still sport a budget surplus. And think of all those new public banking government jobs created in the region of Waterloo that will pay for themselves.
Instead of borrowing from private commercial banks at usurious interest, why not borrow from the Ontario Public Bank, or from Toronto Public Bank, or from our Mackenzie King Regional Public Bank of Kitchener, or from our PUBLIC BANK OF CANADA interest-free? Usury is not a law of nature; it comes from human greed. That would relieve the top fiscal pressure in the region of Waterloo, instead of having to continually increase taxes, cut social programs and benefits to save money. Why not save all those unnecessary debt servicing payments, a staggering $62 million this year alone, and deposit them all in our Mackenzie King Regional Public Bank of Kitchener instead? Martin Wolf is widely considered to be one of the world’s most influential writers on economics. He is the associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times:

“One of these radical ideas was proposed by Martin Wolf in the Financial Times. He suggests stripping private banks of their remarkable power to create money out of thin air. Simply by issuing credit, they spawn between 95% and 97% of the money supply. If the state were to assert a monopoly on money creation [via public central bank], government could increase their money supply without increasing debt. Seigniorage (the difference between the cost of producing money and its value) would accrue to the state, adding billions to national coffers. Private commercial  banks would be reduced to being servants, not masters, of economy.” — George Monbiot  theguardian.com

Money, everywhere and always, has been created out of thin air, and simply printed out as fancy paper notes. Anyone can do it. It is the best job ever. Private commercial banks create the money they lend just as public banks do — out of thin air. The difference is simply that a publicly-owned bank returns the profits to the government and the People of the country, while a privately-owned bank siphons the principal plus interest into its capital account, to be re-loaned at further interest, progressively drawing money out of the productive economy.
Have you ever wondered how private commercial banks can afford to pay out all those multi-million dollar year-end bonuses before Christmas? In the US, Pacific Investment Management paid its former chief investment officer, Bill Gross, a bonus of about $290 million. Last year Canada’s big banks gave out $12.2 Billion in bonuses, 13 percent more than a year before. No austerity in the banking sector in Canada! Where do those more-than-generous bonuses come from? From the usury the People of Canada pay to the greedy private banks that are to-big-to-jail. And how was your Christmas last year? If you can’t join them, beat them at their own game —establish a public bank in Kitchener.
Former Chicago Mayoral candidate, and urban planner, Amara Enyia J.D. is a supporter of municipal public banks. The principles Dr. Amara Enyia outlines would also work for a state-owned public bank:
“Right now we are in debt to other financial entities. I think when I last checked it was about $900 million. So the concept of a public bank is the notion of the bank as a public utility, a bank that works for the interests of the city of Chicago. Its allegiance is to the taxpayers. For example, extending lines of credit to small businesses, to homeowners who want to get loans for homes, and repairs on their buildings if you’re a landlord. These are the sorts of things that it’s very difficult to get private financing from traditional banking institutions. The other benefit is infrastructure—having the money to execute infrastructure projects, such as our streets, our sewage systems, all those sorts of projects at low interest rates. Right now, the interest rates are sky high and, with that interest, the city never sees any of those dollars. We’re just paying it out to these other financial entities, so imagine if that interest is actually recirculating back into our economy. It reduces the cost of these projects, but it also means that our money is recirculating back, which is in the interest of the public, the taxpayers. This is something that has worked in North Dakota. They’ve found that the Bank of North Dakota is actually outperforming all of the Wall Street banks. It is something that has been done in Europe, so it exists and the model is there, it’s just a matter of pushing this idea for the city of Chicago.”

Victor Hugo said: “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”

That time is now.
Considering all of the above, who would like to say “No” to the idea of establishing the Mackenzie King Regional Public Bank of Kitchener, and why?
Please, let us know! Thank you.
B. A. Rosenberg