Written in response to an article about the Public Bank East Bay, with a heavy focus on financing "green" projects.
Re: “East Bay cities seek safe financial waters” (Page A1, Feb. 26).- Your article on the Public Bank East Bay demands a response. You reference the usefulness of the public Bank of North Dakota in financing productive activities under more favorable conditions than local businesses and local governments could get from big Wall Street banks. All true.
However, why think small? When this country was founded, Alexander Hamilton and George Washington established a national bank to provide credit to productive businesses, with branch banks throughout the 13 states. It was nothing like the Fed, contrary to popular misconception. Rather, it was much more like the Bank of North Dakota on a national scale. But to make any of this really work, we need to break the power of the big banks, which is a daunting, but not impossible, task. Snipping at their heels with a little community bank won’t amount to much, though it might make some local politicians feel good.
- Hunter Cobb, Member Letter to Editor, published in East Bay Times on-line edition, Page A1, 2/26/2023 and in East Bay Times print edition, 3/2/2023