Filed under: video | Tagged: debt crisis, Ellen Brown, Federal Reserve, public banking | 7 Comments »
“Fixing Debt and Money with Publicly Owned Banking”: video interview by Australian blogger Phillip Watt
Posted on June 11, 2016 by Ellen Brown
On “It’s Our Money”: Rozanne Junker on the Bank of North Dakota, Parts 1 & 2
Posted on June 2, 2016 by Ellen Brown
The Bank of North Dakota started a century ago with the simple goal of service to citizen victims of the Wall Street monopoly. It now inspires the hopes of citizens nationwide, as they struggle to wrest their financial freedom from the same financial masters. Ellen talks with Dr. Rozanne Enerson Junker, who got her doctorate studying how this upstart institution took on the big banks and turned a challenged economy into a financial powerhouse of service to its owners, the people of North Dakota. Rozanne is featured in a documentary called “The Bank of North Dakota,” linked below. Walt McRee then talks with Tom Tresser about a new collaborative book called “Chicago is Not Broke – Funding the City We Deserve” — there’s more money laying around than most citizens know. And Matt Stannard discusses What Wall Street Costs America with a focus on Detroit and Harrison, NJ – yet more victims of the global banking cartels that keep America under the thumb of debt servitude. Listen to the archive here.
In Part II of Rozanne’s interview, played on June 8th’s show, we continue our conversation about the founding factors and functional dimensions of America’s only state-owned public bank. Ellen also discusses block-chain technology with co-host Walt McRee, while this week’s What Wall Street Costs America examines the impact of predatory banking costs on the city of Detroit — Matt Stannard talks with Tom Stevens of “Detroiters Resisting Emergency Management.” Archived here.
Audio Player
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Bank of North Dakota, public banking | 6 Comments »
“Print the Money”: Trump’s “Reckless” Proposal Echoes Franklin and Lincoln
Posted on May 14, 2016 by Ellen Brown
“Print the money” has been called crazy talk, but it may be the only sane solution to a $19 trillion federal debt that has doubled in the last 10 years. The solution of Abraham Lincoln and the American colonists can still work today.
“Reckless,” “alarming,” “disastrous,” “swashbuckling,” “playing with fire,” “crazy talk,” “lost in a forest of nonsense”: these are a few of the labels applied by media commentators to Donald Trump’s latest proposal for dealing with the federal debt. On Monday, May 9th, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate said on CNN, “You print the money.” Continue reading
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Donald Trump, federal debt, infrastructure crisis, public banking, quantitative easing | 100 Comments »
Bank of North Dakota Soars Despite Oil Bust: A Blueprint for California?
Posted on May 2, 2016 by Ellen Brown
Despite North Dakota’s collapsing oil market, its state-owned bank continues to report record profits. This article looks at what California, with fifty times North Dakota’s population, could do following that state’s lead.
In November 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Bank of North Dakota (BND), the nation’s only state-owned depository bank, was more profitable even than J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. The author attributed this remarkable performance to the state’s oil boom; but the boom has now become an oil bust, yet the BND’s profits continue to climb. Its 2015 Annual Report, published on April 20th, boasted its most profitable year ever. Continue reading
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Bank of North Dakota, California economy, public banking | 48 Comments »
On “It’s Our Money”: Prof. John McMurtry Discusses “The Cancer Stage of Capitalism” and Why the Establishment Hates Trump
Posted on May 2, 2016 by Ellen Brown
Ellen’s noted guest Dr. John McMurtry describes capitalism as being in a cancerous stage in which it’s being devoured from within by metastasizing greed and self-interest. He also talks about why the establishment hates Donald Trump. Matt Stannard looks at how the banking cancer has affected Jefferson County, AL, which declared bankruptcy after buying into toxic interest rates swaps from Wall Street salesmen. The antidote: public banks! Show archived here.
Filed under: Audio | Tagged: capitalism, Donald Trump, Jefferson County, public banking | 2 Comments »
Les Leopold on “It’s Our Money”
Posted on April 23, 2016 by Ellen Brown
You’ve Been Strip Mined! That’s how Ellen’s guest Les Leopold describes what has happened to the constructive role of capital, such as investment in research and development, expansion and improvement of services and industries. He calls it “economic strip-mining” in which capital speculators like hedge funds strip the equity of companies, countries and consumers to feed their insatiable desire for short term profits – outcomes be damned. We also introduce the new national project and campaign called “What Wall Street Costs America” – the start of a national conversation revealing the massive extraction of public dollars by Wall Street interests. And Matt Stannard reviews presidential politics and bank reform on the Public Banking Report. Archived here.
Next up: Prof. John McMurtry on the Trump phenomenon and the Cancer Stage of Capitalism.
Filed under: Audio | Tagged: Bernie Sanders, Les Leopold, public banking, Wall Street costs | 18 Comments »
This week on “It’s Our Money”: Stephen Lendman and Going Cashless
Posted on April 1, 2016 by Ellen Brown
Kiss your cash goodbye! The word is that things would be more convenient, crooks would be confounded and diseases might be thwarted if we’d just get rid of filthy currency as the most essential form of personal financial liquidity. Currently circulating in the corridors of world financial powers, it may appear as an enlightened technical step forward to eliminate cash, but is it also a stalking horse for yet another way global bank interests can separate you from your assets? Ellen speaks with renowned author and media figure Stephen Lendman about why this idea is appearing now and what’s happening behind the scenes that’s moving it forward. Also behind the scenes is a huge and stark reality about municipal debt to Wall Street that the Public Banking Institute is targeting in its new project called What Wall Street Costs America. Co-host Walt McRee speaks with PBI’s Matt Stannard on this groundbreaking campaign. Listen here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: cashless society, negative interest, public banking, Wall Street costs | 5 Comments »
Public banking in Europe: Possibilities for Iceland
Posted on February 29, 2016 by Ellen Brown
I’m currently in Switzerland, after presentations on public banking in Reykjavik, Iceland; London, UK; Manchester, UK; and Cardiff, Wales. Very interesting and productive trip!
A February 13th seminar on public banking was sponsored by the Dawn Party in Reykjavik. Below is a youtube video of my power point followed by one by Wolfram Morales of the German Sparkassen group. (English begins at 12’35”.)
Iceland is a beautiful country with charming people. They face daunting challenges but have been bold in standing up to the banks, and the spirit is there for a true revolution in banking.
Ellen
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Dawn Party, Iceland, public banking, Sparkassen | 6 Comments »
William Engdahl, Kevin Zeese on It’s Our Money
Posted on February 25, 2016 by Ellen Brown
Ellen speaks with noted historian, economic researcher and journalist William Engdahl about his new book The Lost Hegemon and some backstory facts that belie popular news story narratives. We also revisit another powerful narrative deception in the form of the Trans Pacific Partnership, with anti-TPP activist Kevin Zeese. Listen to the archive here.
Filed under: Audio | Tagged: Kevin Zeese, public banking, TPP, William Engdahl | 3 Comments »
The Populist Revolution: Bernie and Beyond
Posted on January 26, 2016 by Ellen Brown
The world is undergoing a populist revival. From the revolt against austerity led by the Syriza Party in Greece and the Podemos Party in Spain, to Jeremy Corbyn’s surprise victory as Labour leader in the UK, to Donald Trump’s ascendancy in the Republican polls, to Bernie Sanders’ surprisingly strong challenge to Hillary Clinton – contenders with their fingers on the popular pulse are surging ahead of their establishment rivals.
Today’s populist revolt mimics an earlier one that reached its peak in the US in the 1890s. Then it was all about challenging Wall Street, reclaiming the government’s power to create money, curing rampant deflation with US Notes (Greenbacks) or silver coins (then considered the money of the people), nationalizing the banks, and establishing a central bank that actually responded to the will of the people. Continue reading
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, populist movement, public banking | 52 Comments »
Charles Eisenstein on “It’s Our Money”
Posted on January 26, 2016 by Ellen Brown
Ellen joins her daughter Jamie Brown in interviewing Charles Eisenstein, a highly popular visionary re-thinker of the nature and future of economics. The author of “Sacred Economics,” Eisenstein shares insights into some of the core flaws in our economic thinking and helps us to see that we have the power and the responsibility to choose the priorities of the system we want. Co-host Walt McRee also speaks with Santa Fe public banking leader Nichoe Lichen of Banking on New Mexico, which saw the release this past week of a highly positive feasibility study supporting the creation of a new Santa Fe public bank. Listen here.
Filed under: Audio | Tagged: Charles Eisenstein, public banking, Sacred Economics | 3 Comments »
The Citadel Is Breached: Congress Taps the Fed for Infrastructure Funding
Posted on January 16, 2016 by Ellen Brown
In a landmark infrastructure bill passed in December, Congress finally penetrated the Fed’s “independence” by tapping its reserves and bank dividends for infrastructure funding.
The bill was a start. But some experts, including Congressional candidate Tim Canova, say Congress should go further and authorize funds to be issued for infrastructure directly.
For at least a decade, think tanks, commissions and other stakeholders have fought to get Congress to address the staggering backlog of maintenance, upkeep and improvements required to bring the nation’s infrastructure into the 21st century. Countries with less in the way of assets have overtaken the US in innovation and efficiency, while our dysfunctional Congress has battled endlessly over the fiscal cliff, tax reform, entitlement reform, and deficit reduction. Continue reading
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Federal Reserve, infrastructure crisis, public banking, quantitative easing | 65 Comments »
“Bail-ins Begin”: Interviews with Greg Hunter and Thom Hartmann
Posted on January 10, 2016 by Ellen Brown
My Dec. 29th article “Bail-ins Begin” prompted two video interviews, with Greg Hunter on USAWatchdog.com, and Thom Hartmann, below.
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: bail-in, Dodd-Frank, public banking | 13 Comments »
Les Leopold on “It’s Our Money”
Posted on January 10, 2016 by Ellen Brown
Ellen speaks with noted author and co-Founder of the Labor Institute, Les Leopold, about how the market mechanics of inequality have succeeded over the past 40 years and what we can do collectively to bring about real change. She also discusses her latest article about the looming crisis that could be triggered by the new practice of bailing-in depositor money to save failing banks. And Matt Stannard delivers some words about money from the mouths of historical figures. Listen to the archive here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: inequality, Les Leopold, public banking | 6 Comments »
A Crisis Worse than ISIS? Bail-Ins Begin
Posted on December 29, 2015 by Ellen Brown
While the mainstream media focus on ISIS extremists, a threat that has gone virtually unreported is that your life savings could be wiped out in a massive derivatives collapse. Bank bail-ins have begun in Europe, and the infrastructure is in place in the US. Poverty also kills.
At the end of November, an Italian pensioner hanged himself after his entire €100,000 savings were confiscated in a bank “rescue” scheme. He left a suicide note blaming the bank, where he had been a customer for 50 years and had invested in bank-issued bonds. But he might better have blamed the EU and the G20’s Financial Stability Board, which have imposed an “Orderly Resolution” regime that keeps insolvent banks afloat by confiscating the savings of investors and depositors. Some 130,000 shareholders and junior bond holders suffered losses in the “rescue.” Continue reading
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: bail-in, Dodd-Frank, Financial Stability Board, public banking | 133 Comments »
How to eliminate income taxes and the federal debt: Scott Smith on “It’s Our Money”
Posted on December 11, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Among other items of interest on “It’s Our Money” this week, Ellen interviews Independent presidential candidate Scott Smith, who has a clever plan for eliminating austerity, income taxes and the federal debt without creating inflation. Archived here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: digital currency, federal debt, income tax, public banking | 3 Comments »
Power Point: Can the Federal Debt Be Repaid?
Posted on November 18, 2015 by Ellen Brown
Here is a power point I gave last night at an American Freedom Alliance event in Los Angeles on whether the federal debt can be repaid (yes), how it can be repaid (by simply issuing the money), and why that would stimulate the economy without leading to hyperinflation. Ellen
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: federal debt, public banking | 10 Comments »
“Can the Debt Be Paid?” — Bill Still and Ellen Brown in Los Angeles Nov 17; Bill Still, Margaret Flowers, and Thomas Marois on “It’s Our Money.”
Posted on November 14, 2015 by Ellen Brown
On November 11th on “It’s Our Money,” Ellen spoke with Bill Still on how to pay off the national debt; and Walt spoke with Dr. Margaret Flowers on ominous developments involving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Listen to the archive here.
The Still interview was prelude to an American Freedom Alliance event on November 17th at 7:30 pm at the Luxe Sunset Blvd Hotel in Los Angeles, at which Ellen and Bill will be addressing the topical question —
“Can the National Debt Be Paid Down and If So, Who Will Pay It?”
Public invited. Details here.
Also now in the PRN archives is the enlightening October 28th interview of UK Prof. Thomas Marois on public banking developments around the world. Listen here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: federal debt, public banking, TPP | 10 Comments »
Killing Off Community Banks — Intended Consequence of Dodd-Frank?
Posted on October 21, 2015 by Ellen Brown
The Dodd-Frank regulations are so lethal to community banks that some say the intent was to force them to sell out to the megabanks. Community banks are rapidly disappearing — except in North Dakota, where they are thriving.
At over 2,300 pages, the Dodd Frank Act is the longest and most complicated bill ever passed by the US legislature. It was supposed to end “too big to fail” and “bailouts,” and to “promote financial stability.” But Dodd-Frank’s “orderly liquidation authority” has replaced bailouts with bail-ins, meaning that in the event of insolvency, big banks are to recapitalize themselves with the savings of their creditors and depositors. The banks deemed too big are more than 30% bigger than before the Act was passed in 2010, and 80% bigger than before the banking crisis of 2008. The six largest US financial institutions now have assets of some $10 trillion, amounting to almost 60% of GDP; and they control nearly 50% of all bank deposits.
Meanwhile, their smaller competitors are struggling to survive. Community banks and credit unions are disappearing at the rate of one a day. Access to local banking services is disappearing along with them. Small and medium-size businesses – the ones that hire two-thirds of new employees – are having trouble getting loans; students are struggling with sky-high interest rates; homeowners have been replaced by hedge funds acting as absentee landlords; and bank fees are up, increasing the rolls of the unbanked and underbanked, and driving them into the predatory arms of payday lenders. Continue reading
Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: bail-in, Bank of North Dakota, community banking, Dodd-Frank, public banking | 29 Comments »
WEB OF DEBT BLOG 
Hon. Paul Hellyer on “It’s Our Money”
Mayer Rothschild is famously quoted as saying “Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws!” – and so it is. When we look at the distribution of capital, we see that those who control the franchise of creating money through loans and debt rule our world. Ellen speaks with one of the planet’s oldest serving statesmen, Canada’s Paul Hellyer, about the nature of this controlling franchise and about the alternatives still available. Walt McRee speaks with Lisa Cody, a researcher for the Service Employees International Union, who did a landmark study of the outrageous costs Los Angeles has paid private financiers as part of our ongoing series What Wall Street Costs America, and Matt Stannard comments on the increasingly popular idea of providing a basic income to people as one way of balancing the scales against the controlling interests. Archived here.
Filed under: Audio, Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: Paul Hellyer, public banking, Wall Street costs | 3 Comments »