By Robert Raymond, Shareable. Ellen Brown discusses the public banking solution, with a nod to the California Public Banking Alliance and our grassroots movement working to radically transform the banking system in the U.S.

Since the 2008 financial collapse, people across the country have been exploring new ways of democratizing the economy. How could the disaster inflicted by Wall Street be utilized as an opportunity to create new and improved institutions? From worker cooperatives to land trusts to participatory budgeting, democratic models of traditional institutions began to take shape.

Public banking is one alternative model, and the grassroots movement that has formed around it intends to radically reimagine the banking system in the United States. Working with legislators across the US, advocates are pushing for the creation of public banks on the municipal, county and state levels.

The modern movement for public banking was spearheaded by Ellen Brown of the Public Banking Institute just after the 2008 financial collapse. Brown has since authored several books, including most recently “Banking on the People: Democratizing Money in the Digital Age,” published by The Democracy Collaborative. Shareable spoke with Brown about how public banking is a solution to the extractive and exploitative Wall Street model.

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