WHAT A PUBLIC BANK COULD MEAN FOR CALIFORNIA
May 17, 2011 by Ellen Brown
California is the eighth largest economy in the world, and it has a debt burden to match. It has outstanding general obligation bonds and revenue bonds of $158 billion, largely incurred for infrastructure. Of this tab, $70 billion is just for interest. Over $7 billion of California’s annual budget goes to pay interest on the state’s debt.
As large as California’s liabilities are, they are exceeded by its assets, which are sufficient to capitalize a bank rivaling any in the world. That’s the idea behind Assembly Bill 750, introduced by Assemblyman Ben Hueso of San Diego, which would establish a blue ribbon task force to consider the viability of creating the California Investment Trust, a state bank receiving deposits of state funds. Instead of relying on Wall Street banks for credit – or allowing a Wall Street bank to enjoy the benefits of lending its capital – California may decide to create its own, publicly-owned bank.
On May 2, AB 750 moved out of the Banking and Finance Committee with only one nay vote and is now on its way to the Appropriations Committee. Three unions submitted their support for the bill – the California Nurses Association, the California Firefighters, and the California Labor Council. The state bank idea also got a nod from former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich in his speech at the California Democratic Convention in Sacramento the previous day.
Why a State Bank?
California joins eleven other states that have introduced bills to form state-owned banks or to study their feasibility. Eight of these bills were introduced just since January, including in Oregon, Washington State, Massachusetts, Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico, Maine and California. Illinois, Virginia, Hawaii and Louisiana introduced similar bills in 2010. For links, dates and text, see here.
All of these bills were inspired by the Bank of North Dakota (BND), currently the nation’s only state-owned bank. While other states are teetering on bankruptcy, the state of North Dakota continues to report surpluses. On April 20, the BND reported profits for 2010 of $62 million, setting a record for the seventh straight year. The BND’s profits belong to the citizens and are produced without taxation.
The BND partners with local banks in providing much-needed credit for local businesses and homeowners. It also helps with state and local government funding. When North Dakota went over-budget a few years ago, according to the bank’s president Eric Hardmeyer, the BND acted as a rainy day fund for the state. And when a North Dakota town suffered a massive flood, the BND provided emergency credit lines to the city. Having a cheap and readily available credit line with the state’s own bank reduces the need for massive rainy-day funds (which are largely invested in out-of-state banks at very modest interest).
The Center for State Innovation, based in Madison, Wisconsin, was commissioned to do detailed analyses for the Washington and Oregon bills. Their conclusion was that a state-owned bank on the model of the Bank of North Dakota would have a substantial positive impact in those states, increasing employment, new lending, and government revenue.
What California Could Do with Its Own Bank
Banks create “bank credit” from capital and deposits, as explained here. Under existing capital requirements, $8 in capital can be leveraged into $100 in loans, drawing on the liquidity provided by the deposits to clear the outgoing checks. Assuming a 10% reserve requirement (the amount in deposits normally held in reserve), $8 in capital and $100 in deposits are sufficient to create $90 in loans ($100 less $10 held back for reserves).
In North Dakota (population 647,000), the Bank of North Dakota has $2.7 billion in deposits, or $4000 per capita. The majority of these deposits are drawn from the state’s own revenues. The bank has nearly the same sum ($2.6 billion) in outstanding loans.
California has 37 million people. If the California Investment Trust (CIT) performed like the BND, it might amass $148 billion in deposits. With $12 billion in capital, this $148 billion could generate $133 billion in credit for the state (subtracting 10%, or 14.8 billion, to satisfy reserve requirements).
There are various ways the state could come up with the capital, but one possibility that would not require new taxes or debt would be to simply draw on the treasurer’s existing pooled money investment account, which currently contains $65 billion in accumulated revenues dispersed to a variety of funds. This money is already invested; a portion could just be shifted to the CIT. Since it would be an investment in equity rather than an expenditure, it would not cost the state money. Rather, it would make money for the state. In recent years, the Bank of North Dakota has had a return on equity of 25-26%. Compare the 25-30% lost in the two years following the 2008 banking crisis by CalPERS, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which invested its money on Wall Street.
There are many inviting possibilities for applying the CIT’s $133 billion in credit power, but here is one easy alternative that illustrates the cost-effectiveness of the approach. Assume the bank invested $133 billion in municipal bonds at 5% interest. This would give the state close to $7 billion annually in interest income – nearly enough to pay the interest tab on the state’s debt.
Choosing Prosperity
What California can do with its own bank, other states can do as well, on a scale proportionate to their populations and economies. North Dakota has a population that is less than 1/10th the size of Los Angeles; the BND produced $62 million in revenue last year and $2.2 billion in loans. Larger states could generate much more.
We have been trapped in an austere neo-liberal economic model in which the only alternatives are to slash services, raise taxes, and sell off public assets, all in a futile attempt to “balance the budget” in a shrinking economy. We need to start thinking outside the box. We can choose prosperity, and public banks are a key tool for achieving that end.
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Original post here-
http://webofdebt.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/what-a-public-bank-could-mean-for-california/
Ellen Brown wrote this article for YES! Magazine. Ellen is an attorney and president of the Public Banking Institute, http://PublicBankingInstitute.org. In Web of Debt, her latest of eleven books, she shows how people can reclaim the power to create money. Her websites are http://webofdebt.com and http://ellenbrown.com.
2012 A Doorway Into Another Age?
With the massive wave of 2012 hype and hypothesis bombarding us from every side, I though it would be fun to take a look at selected opinions from our global family with their sometimes unique perspective of what these days may hold for humanity. To add in some flavor, included are a few statements from the esoteric thinkers and visionaries of our current age.
No matter what your opinion may be concerning these fantastic days we find ourselves in, or the whole “2012″ subject, one cannot easily dismiss the entire notion that absolutely nothing profound or out of the ordinary is increasingly effecting people and the planet we call home.
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- Aztec- Call this the Time of the Sixth Sun. A time of transformation. Creation of new race.
- Cherokee- Their ancient calendar ends exactly at 2012 as does the Mayan calendar.
- Dogon- Say that the spaceship of the visitors, the Nommo, will return in the form of a blue star.
- Egypt- According to the Great Pyramid (stone calendar), present time cycle ends in year 2012 AD.
- Hindu- Kali Yuga (end time of man). The Coming of Kalki & critical mass of Enlightened Ones.
- Hopi- Predict a 25yr period of purification followed by End of Fourth World and beginning of the Fifth.
- Incas- Call it the ‘Age of Meeting Ourselves Again’.
- Mayans- Call it the ‘end days’ or the end of time as we know it.
- Maoris Say that as the veils dissolve there will be a merging of the physical & spiritual worlds.
- Pueblo- Acknowledge it’ll be the emergence into the Fifth World.
- Zulu- Believe that the whole world will be turned upside down.
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”A telepathic interplay which will eventually annihilate time”
(Alice Bailey)
”Translation or dematerialisation to another sphere of the Universe”
(Teilhard de Chardin)
”A matter-antimatter implosion leaving a mutation of matter to photoniform. Our minds will unite like the fragments of a hologram.”
(Terence McKenna)
”As the Schumann resonance increases to 13Hz, Gaia goes from Alpha to Beta frequency & wakes up. Increasing tryptamine & beta-carboline neuro-chemistry allows us a telepathic communion, as we become used to our light bodies in preparation for the magnetic pole reversal when there will be a mass out-of-body-experience.”
(Geoff Stray)
”Evolutionary quantum leap. Human / ET interface & the arrival of a new species or kingdom on Earth.”
(Jon King)
”In 2012, Earth’s axis will tilt, along with a polar reversal, causing terrestrial and celestial grids to re-align, the pineal eye will perceive beyond ultraviolet,& we’ll ascend to the next dimension beyond time.”
(Moira Timms)
”The human race will unify as a single circuit. Solar & galactic sound transmissions will inundate the planetary field. A current charging both poles will race across the skies, connecting the polar auroras in a single brilliant flash.”
(Jose Arguelles)
”A moment of quantum awakening. A nanosecond will be stretched into infinity and become non-time, during which we will all experience full consciousness of who we are and why we have incarnated. If we choose to return to human form, we will do so in an awakened state, as ‘reflective cells’ of the starmaker.”
(Ken Carey)
35 Facts That Show Just How Much The Average American Has Been Destroyed By This Economy
35 Facts Showing How Much The Average American Has Been Destroyed By This Economy
Sobering statistics to say the least. Each of the 35 facts has an accompanying image that really does speak a thousand words. As I have repeatedly wrote about- Our global debt-based monetary system has for all intents and purposes run it’s logical and mathematical course. This is the result. A new day awaits as this fractured “Humpty Dumpty” system of money creation via debt issuance can no longer deliver the economic prosperity necessary for sustained growth.
Not to mention the sums of money needed to be extracted from the real economy to service these staggering interest payments on equally un-payable debt levels. We see this on every level- Consumers, businesses & corporations, States and Sovereign nations. Fear-Not! There is another more sound way to reduce or eliminate these cycles of despair created by this method of money-creation. Stay tuned…but for now, I’ll leave that good news for another article. (Click the image below for article)
Is The Physical Shift About To Hit The Fan?
While the recent devastation caused by Japan’s historic 9.0 mega-quake on March 11, 2011 is heart wrenching to even view from a distance, many are asking- are we now accelerating towards massive, global geophysical upheaval? The short answer is yes, these are those days spoken of. Make no mistake about it; the frequency at which earth-shaking events are occurring along with the magnitude of these calamities validates this answer. As of now, we can put aside our debate including various hypotheses as to the cause of these events.
For the time being, it matters not whether they are intricately tied to solar eruptions, galactic center emanations, earth’s magnetic fluxuation or another planetary body traversing our solar system. What matters is a holistic approach to living with these intense changes.
I have often pondered what will the naysayers and the like say when such unimaginable earth-changing events continue to appear in rapid, escalating succession one after another. However, that is a completely different discussion. Now is the time to prepare (if you have delayed doing so) for similar events regardless if they are of a natural cyclic order or, man-made. They all share a common theme- events like these could very easily affect you on a personal level. Wise preparations in many cases are simple to achieve. Two important areas of concern are your physical & spiritual well-being during these Shifting times we face.
Are you Ready?
Consider assembling a “mini-emergency survival” type kit containing basic life-support items such as- water, food, clothing, first aid kit, flashlight etc., and a communication device such as an emergency radio. The typical quantity for rations should be about seven days, or at a minimum, three days. Do not forget to have a set plan for connecting with or having a meeting location established between friends and family as needed. Consider the potential to not have available or functional, your favorite hand held communication device.
As for the all-important spiritual element, never overlook this one. History has proven time and again when individuals are facing these life-altering events, it is their connection to a higher-order or spiritual attunement, which helps tremendously by holding them together. Moreover, the connection to spirit in many cases ultimately helps them to survive the ordeal.
Into Perspective
Below are two links provided for adding emphasis as to the importance of being prepared for when these geophysical or other calamities take place. Let’s not soon forget those who have lost their lives and just how devastating it is now to all those who remain. Allow your heart to resonate in compassion with these brave souls as they pick up the torch and slowly move ahead into a new world.
Before & after images-
(click image below)
Earthquake after-shock interactive map-
(click image below)
Universal Co-Creation Cycle: The Expansion of Truth & the Vulnerability of Exposure
From My Astro Chris by Chris Taylor
I fully expect dramatic breakthroughs this year, especially in science, medicine, & energy. The ‘truth’ in these areas will reach the masses in a way that will FORCE us to question the structures & authorities that keep them in place. Just like a snail outgrows its shell and has to find a more suitable shell despite the vulnerable journey involved, so too are we outgrowing our structures and having to find a new set of structures while experiencing the vulnerability of exposure until that occurs.
So what CAN we expect in 2011 during this Universal Co-Creation Cycle?
With the rapid motion of Jupiter through the sign of Aries and the permanent entrance of Uranus in Aries over the first several months of 2011, ‘speed’ will be the operative word. 2010 may have felt like we were driving with the parking break on but 2011 will feel like our brakes are giving out as we roll down a steep hill…yikes! The only way to handle it is to surrender to the vulnerability of the unknown because trying to stop the rapid growth and change will be futile. Like a NASCAR driver, we can only hope to steer our vehicle in a desirable direction….although maybe not just to the left.
On a collective level, what we think of as ‘mainstream’ will be in a RAPID state of flux throughout the year. Expect breakthroughs in realms of medicine, metaphysics and other fringe topics. THIS is the year that the edges of the acceptable mainstream expand to include those fringe areas. By the end of 2011, the idea of ‘healing’ will be completely revamped.
For example, from July-November 2011, “The Run: Moving Natural Medicine Forward” will be spreading across the United States from San Francisco, CA to Bridgeport, CT. This event will be one of many opportunities for the ‘truth’ about medicine to be revealed which will inevitably lead to a collective sense of wanting to ‘overthrow’ the medicine industry to allow for true health to all.
In my opinion, one of the reasons that Health Care Reform is stalled in America is because the new truth cannot be supported by those archaic structures. It has less to do with political ideologies and more to do with a sense that it is time to have a new system to honor the truth of medicine and health rather than trying to fit medicine into an existing model whether its for profit or whether it is run by the government. I will have more specific things to say about this event as we approach the summer but again this is just one of MANY examples of what will be occurring through this Universal Co-Creation Cycle. – http://www.therun.org/about-the-run/run-itinerary/
On a personal level, if you used the purging opportunities of 2010 to your benefit you will find yourself ready for the excitement of the Universal Co-Creation Cycle in 2011 and more open to riding the waves. However, those who reacted to 2010 by holding even stronger to their old habits and patterns while refusing to change and release, will find 2011 a bit too much to take….like trying to run a marathon without training first.
By April, the aforementioned expansion & rapid developments of 2011 will be quite obvious and it will carry us through the rest of the year into 2012. The first wave of opening & truth occurs from March 9 – March 26. The period immediately following from March 27 – April 13 will be our first ‘reality check point’ period. Another period of conscious awakening will occur immediately following this period, and so on. It will be a wild ride for sure.
Below is a time line for this Universal Co-creation cycle where the ‘Day’ periods represent rapid increases in collective consciousness & the ‘Night’ periods represent period of application & ‘reality sinking in’ for those new awareness’s.
Universal Co-Creation Cycle – 18 days each
Key Start Dates for each of the 18-day segments
Day 1: 9-Mar-2011
Night 1: 27-Mar-2011
Day 2: 14-Apr-2011
Night 2: 2-May-2011
Day 3: 20-May-2011
Night 3: 7-Jun-2011
Day 4: 25-Jun-2011
Night 4: 13-Jul-2011
Day 5: 31-Jul-2011
Night 5: 18-Aug-2011
Day 6: 5-Sep-2011
Night 6: 23-Sep-2011
Day 7: 11-Oct-2011
Entire 16.4 Billion year calendar ends on 28-Oct-2011
We are the collective snail who is expanding too large for the existing structural shell. We must be brave and face the vulnerability of exposure as we leave our old shell and create a new set of structures that fit the realities we now know to be true. And there’s no turning back. Social eruptions like the one in Egypt are just the beginning of these kinds of overthrows. Just imagine the outrage when the world knows that something like ‘energy’ is actually FREE and can be utilized much more simply than our current fossil fuel based economic structures. Again, just another example of many.
Finally, the word ‘Apocalypse’ is actually a Greek word that translates to ‘unveiling’ in English. Popular culture assumes that this word portends to the end of times. But perhaps this idea of a pending ‘apocalypse’ was ALWAYS referring to a time when the truth will be unveiled for all, followed by a period of collapse of old structures and a massive readjustment. What an unfortunate misunderstanding! Just remember, the ‘end’ of the way it has been does not imply that new beginnings are not on the way. This is occurring on both a collective as well as a personal level for all individuals. We are coming into ourselves…and into our own sacred truth.
On personal level, my advice is:
Embrace your truth, have courage in the vulnerability of exposure, & be willing to adjust your sense of security around a new set of your own personal reality. Inevitably, as we change so will our relationships. Have the courage to release those that no longer fit or to adjust them to fit you. Just like our structures should be designed to harness and support our truth, so too must our relationships adjust to fit our personal truth and not the other way around. Saturn in Libra from 2010 through the end of 2012 reiterates this journey of restructuring our relationships to fit our truth.
Enjoy this wild ride! Also, attend one of my presentations on the Mayan Calendar or on Relationship Astrology for a better understanding of how to deal with these changes that are occurring. Or you can purchase a recording of one or both presentations at www.myastrochris.com!
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
