My father, Owen Anderson, has done a remarkable amount of research on economics in the last few years, and my thinking has been influenced by many of the writers he has introduced me to, including Ellen Brown.
"In North Dakota – the only state to post a budget surplus every year since 2001 – the state owns its own bank. When the state last went over-budget in 2001 due to the Dot.com crisis, it merely issued itself an extra dividend through the Bank of North Dakota – the only state-owned depository bank in the country – and the next year it was back on track."
Building an Ark: How to Protect Public Revenues From the Next Meltdown by Ellen Brown, Truth Out.
"We've seen behind the curtain, as the Fed waved its magic liquidity wand over Wall Street. Now it's time to enlist this tool in the service of the people."
Central Banking 101: What the Fed Can Do as Lender of "Last Resort" by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
"The federal government and Federal Reserve have managed to find trillions of dollars to prop up the Wall Street banks that precipitated the credit crisis, but the have not extended this largesse to the taxpayers and local governments that have been forced to pick up the tab."
Restoring Economic Sovereignty: The Push for State-Owned Banks by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
How Wisconsin Can Turn Austerity into Prosperity: Own a Bank by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
As we continue to face massive and increasingly painful budget cuts on all fronts in Washington State, I am extremely disappointed that the state banking movement has not gained more momentum. I find it especially galling that all of our tex revenues currently go into a Bank of America account. State Rep Bob Hasegawa: "BoA makes money off of our money and we never see those profits again. Instead, we can create our own institution amd keep taxpayers' dollars here in Washington, working for Washington."
Washington State Joins Movement for Public Banking by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
The Fed declared that it cannot help the states with their budget problems -- although those problems were created by the profligate banks under the Fed's purview.
Feds to states: "Drop Dead." State Bank Movement Picks Up Steam by Ellen Brown, Op Ed News
What can a public bank also mean for Washington?
What a Public Bank Could Mean for California by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
I am so frustrated that so much public money is being used by private banking interests for their own gains. The Fed's second round of quantitative easing involved $600 million created with a computer keystroke for the purchase of long-term government bonds. But the government never actually got the money, which went straight into the reserve accounts of banks, where it still sits today. Worse, it went into the reserve accounts of foreign banks, on which the Federal Reserve is now paying 0.25-percent interest.
Why QE2 Failed: The Money All Went Overseas by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
The Federal Reserve revealed that by March 2009, it had committed $7.77 trillion in below-market loans and guarantees to rescuing the financial system; and that these nearly interest-free loans came with no strings attached. The Fed insisted that the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, but the banks reaped a $13 billion dollar windfall in profits; and "details suggest taxpayers paid a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger."
Pulling Back the Curtain on the Wall Street Money Machine by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
In the last 24 years, taxpayers paid a total of $8.2 trillion in interest. That's more than half the total $15 trillion debt, in just 24 years. The U.S.
The ECB Fiddles While Rome Burns by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
The title alone does not reflect how rich and informative this piece is. Many in the media focus on what went wrong, who's to blame, and.or provide simplistic recommendations of what should be done instead based on values and beliefs rather than any actual data. Ellen Brown helps to make incredibly complex economic actions and outcomes accessible to the average reader.
The Market has Spoken: Austerity is Bad for Business by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
I do not ascribe to a "soak the rich" solution to balancing the budget. However, the whining about excessive taxes on wealthy corporations can be compared to this analysis:
The Gap Between Statutory and Real Corporate Taxes by Robert McIntyre and T.D. Coo Nguyen via ReclaimDemocracy.org
"With Tax Day fast approaching and deficit reduction all the rage, one fact deserves significant attention: the wealthiest are enjoying some of the lowest taxes in generations."
Taxes on the wealthy have gone down dramatically by Ethan Pollack and Rebecca Theiss, The Economic Policy Institute
As a counterpoint to the previous article, here is a piece that illustrates the need for tax reform. When we ask the rich to pay their "fair share" it is important to understand the devastating inequities in our tax code. We should advocate strongly for tax reform rather than simply raising taxes on the rich. We have a 72,000 page tax code (most European countries have less than 2,000 pages in theirs). This makes it easy for Congress to hide kickbacks to special interests and we lose transparency to endless complexity. Small business owners become the real losers here.
At 102%, His Tax Rate Takes the Cake by James B. Stewart, The New York Times
More evidence that it is the tax code, not the tax percentage, that needs to be changed:
Tax gift to the rich: How one loophole helps wealthy Americans pay less taxes by John Aloysius Farrell via iWatch News
Tax Benefits From Options as Windfall for Businesses by David Kocieniewski, The New York Times
While the likes of Bill Gates try to push for ed reform because there is a presumed lack of competent workers in this country, some who analyze the data claim that other market forces are at work.
The "Education Crisis" Myth by David Sirota on Salon.com
The People's Budget makes it clear that putting our budget on a sustainable path does not require us to dismantle the social safety net and dangerously underinvest in our country's physical, human and knowledge capital.
The People's Budget: A Responsible Budget Plan by Rebecca Theiss, the Economic Policy Institute
It's important to know what lawmakers are up to, even if they are now our own. How much power does Darrell Issa really have?
A Regulator, a Lawmaker and a Quandary by Floyd Norris, The New York Times
The notion that privatizing services will be better for taxpayers because business is more responsible about spending tax dollars is ludicrous. Public education must remain public.
For Some, Budget Pain Doesn't Hurt, but not All by Jim Dwyer, The New York Times
The funding crisis in education has a direct link to the global financial crisis, and the players who devastated our economy are still allowed to make massive profits on the backs of taxpayers. We can't wait for the feds, since Congress has and perhaps always will be in the pockets of the big banks. What we can do is look to states to develop their own banking systems as way to greater prosperity for all.
Swimming with the Sharks: Goldman Sachs, School Districts and Capital Appreciation Bonds by Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt Blog
The funding crisis in education has a direct link to the global financial crisis, and the players who devastated our economy are still allowed to make massive profits on the backs of taxpayers. We can't wait for the feds, since Congress has and perhaps always will be in the pockets of the big banks. What we can do is look to states to develop their own banking systems as way to greater prosperity for all.
Swimming with the Sharks: Goldman Sachs, School Districts and Capital Appreciation Bonds by Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt Blog
There are many reasons to be deeply concerned about the secret trade negotiations dubbed TTP and TTIP. One reason is that public banking in the US may be destroyed before it really has a chance to get started.
Why Public Banks Outperform Private Banks by Ellen Brown, The Huffington Post
One of the four states that is not insolvent is an unlikely
candidate for the distinction – North Dakota. … What does the State of North
Dakota have that other states don’t? The answer seems to be: its own bank. In
fact, North Dakota has the only state-owned bank in the nation.
I am sick to death of the conservative mantra that people should pick themselves up by their bootstraps and be more self reliant. I know people who are too old or ill to find jobs to supplement their insufficient social security income, and some who lost their retirement savings in the global financial meltdown (and these loses were not recovered when taxpayers bailed out the banks). Then there are those who are picking themselves up by their bootstraps, who are doing everything right to be self reliant, and they still can't make ends meet.
I am a Cook inthe U.S. Senate But I Still Need Food Stamps to Feed My Children by Bertrand Olotara, The Guardian (via Alternet)
Example of why Democrats are no better than Republicans is the bipartisan support for the trade negotiations that are being conducted in secret and may have far-reaching and devastating consequences.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Death of the Republic by Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt Blog
Cash-Starved States Need to Play the Banking Game: North Dakota Shows How by Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt
Municipal finance is a multi-trillion dollar business in the
United States, and the costs, more often than not, overwhelm local governments.
Banks peddle toxic debts and risky financing schemes to desperate local
governments…Banks' drive for profits means they are working against the
interest of local governments even as they are their sole providers of credit.
Keeping the Water Running by Matt Stannard, The Public Banking Institute Blog
It is truly, deeply maddening that this wholesale robbery of public money is allowed to continue, with no accountability and no consequences. Ever more evidence in support of public banking.
The notion that increasing salaries will destroy businesses and lead to less profitability is challenged by the actions (and their consequences) of Gravity CEO Dan Price. Admittedly, it is one business, but it may hold lessons and hope for the rest of us.
CEO Slashes Own Pay to Raise All Wages to $70,000 and Business is Booming by Elisabeth Parker, Addicting Info
It is truly, deeply maddening that this wholesale robbery of public money is allowed to continue, with no accountability and no consequences. Ever more evidence in support of public banking.
Wall Street FeesWipe Out $2.5 Billion in New York City Pension Gains by Patrick McGheehan, The New
York Times
The notion that increasing salaries will destroy businesses and lead to less profitability is challenged by the actions (and their consequences) of Gravity CEO Dan Price. Admittedly, it is one business, but it may hold lessons and hope for the rest of us.
CEO Slashes Own Pay to Raise All Wages to $70,000 and Business is Booming by Elisabeth Parker, Addicting Info
I am sick to death of the conservative mantra that people should pick themselves up by their bootstraps and be more self reliant. I know people who are too old or ill to find jobs to supplement their insufficient social security income, and some who lost their retirement savings in the global financial meltdown (and these loses were not recovered when taxpayers bailed out the banks). Then there are those who are picking themselves up by their bootstraps, who are doing everything right to be self reliant, and they still can't make ends meet.
I am a Cook inthe U.S. Senate But I Still Need Food Stamps to Feed My Children by Bertrand Olotara, The Guardian (via Alternet)
Example of why Democrats are no better than Republicans is the bipartisan support for the trade negotiations that are being conducted in secret and may have far-reaching and devastating consequences.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Death of the Republic by Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt Blog
Why theTrans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is a Pending Disaster by Robert Reich, Guerica Magazine
Well, at least one Democrat is better than most regarding the trade negotiations.
Warren to Obama: Stop making "untrue" trade claims by Peter Schroeder, The Hill
Well, at least one Democrat is better than most regarding the trade negotiations.
Warren to Obama: Stop making "untrue" trade claims by Peter Schroeder, The Hill
More to come....
