Written by John Lounsbury
This week Walt McRee, Senior Advisor and Chair Emeritus to the Public Banking Institute, is interviewed by Dan Sullivan, President of the Council of Georgist Organizations. The topic is an explanation of banking operations with emphasis on the differences between private banking (the system we have today in the U.S.) and public banking, which exists in the U.S. for the last 100 years only with the Bank of North Dakota.
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The first seven minutes of the video has Dan Sullivan presenting a brief overview of the history and current status of monetary reform activities. He emphasizes the role of economist Henry George (1839-1897). He further discusses the history of progressives and libertarians from the 19th century, comparing them to how they are positioned today, explaining how they changed in the first half of the 20th century. This short discussion should not be skipped.
From LinkedIn:
As chief executive officer for the growing national movement to establish city, regional and state-owned public banks, Walt has helped develop and lead a dynamic national campaign intended to enable systems of public finance to more effectively support public interest objectives.
Derivative of his leadership at the non-profit Public Banking Institute, Walt founded and now leads Public Banking Associates (www.PublicBankingAssociates.com) — a consultancy serving executive and elected municipal, county and state officials considering creation of a public bank in their jurisdiction. PBA provides access to many of the most experienced public banking experts in the country.
Walt’s previous entrepreneurial and executive experience also focused on other public interest issues including world hunger, public broadcasting, the arts and environmental concerns.
Extensive previous work in media includes wide-ranging achievements in marketing, organizational development, innovation and project management. Walt has served as a media strategist, national voice-over talent and narrator, spokesman, news journalist and broadcaster, writer and program producer. In real estate, Walt acquired extensive experience in residential community development and management, design and building of projects from origination to sales.
From Wikipedia:
Georgism, also called in modern times geoism[2] and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that while people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land, including from all natural resources, the commons, and urban locations should belong equally to all members of society.[3][4][5] Developed from the writings of American economist and social reformer Henry George, the Georgist paradigm seeks solutions to social and ecological problems, based on principles of land rights and public finance which attempt to integrate economic efficiency with social justice.[6][7]
Georgism is concerned with the distribution of economic rent caused by natural monopolies, pollution and the control of commons, including title of ownership for natural resources and other contrived privileges (e.g. intellectual property). Any natural resource which is inherently limited in supply can generate economic rent, but the classical and most significant example of land monopoly involves the extraction of common ground rent from valuable urban locations. Georgists argue that taxing economic rent is efficient, fair and equitable. The main Georgist policy recommendation is a tax assessed on land value. Georgists argue that revenues from a land value tax (LVT) can be used to reduce or eliminate existing taxes such as on income, trade, or purchases that are unfair and inefficient. Some Georgists also advocate for the return of surplus public revenue to the people by means of a basic income or citizen’s dividend.
For more on Georgism and Libertarianism, read “Are you a Real Libertarian, or a Royal Libertarian?“
For more about public banking, see the Public Banking Institute website.
Now back to the presentation.
This program was supported by a grant from the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation. The video is 1 hour and 27 minutes long. The date of the presentation is May, 2020.
Source: YouTube
Larger image of the caption graphic, which is shown early in the video:
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