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Banking on the People: Democratizing Money in the Digital Age Paperback – June 1, 2019

4.7 out of 5 stars 77

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Today most of our money is created, not by governments, but by banks when they make loans. This book takes the reader step by step through the sausage factory of modern money creation, explores improvements made possible by advances in digital technology, and proposes upgrades that could transform our outmoded nineteenth century system into one that is democratic, sustainable, and serves the needs of the twenty-first century.

Ellen Brown is the founder and chairman of the Public Banking Institute and a Fellow at The Democracy Collaborative.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Banking on the People, attorney Ellen Brown provides a much-needed roadmap for reforming monetary and credit systems and the central banks now strangling our common human future. More lucidly that any other expert I know, she shows how we can break the grip of predatory financialization now extracting value from real peoples' productive activities all over the world. Her in-depth research and systemic overview of the global and local politics of money-creation and credit allocation include all the viable proposals of global experts and reformers. She reviews many of these reforms: from financial transaction taxes, to a universal basic income to provide purchasing power for the cornucopia of goods and services now produced, to expanding the public banks she so ably promotes via the Public Banking Institute, to returning the Fed and all banks to serving the public utility functions that economies require. This book is a must read for citizens in all societies who see the promising future as we seek to widen democracies and transform to a cleaner, greener, shared prosperity, based on the renewable abundance of free daily energy from our sun."
--Hazel Henderson, CEO of Ethical Markets Media and author of Mapping the Global Transition to the Solar Age and other books

"Banking on the People is a compelling and fast-moving primer on the new monetary revolution by the godmother of the public banking movement now emerging throughout the country. Brown shows how our new understanding of money and its creation, long concealed by bankers and others capturing the benefits for their own purposes, can be turned to support the public in powerful new ways."
--Gar Alperovitz, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, Co-Founder of The Democracy Collaborative and author of America Beyond Capitalism and other books

"Ellen Brown shows that there is a much better alternative to Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Public banks can safeguard public funds while avoiding the payday loans, redlining, predatory junk-mortgage loans and add-on small-print extras for which the large commercial banks are becoming notorious."
--Michael Hudson, Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and author of Killing the Host and other books

"As we pay the consequences of the global financial crisis and face a new global crisis of climate finance, Ellen Brown's message has never been more urgent: we must have public banks working in the public interest. Away with the hyper-exploitative and unaccountable monopoly of private banks! Banking on the People offers a tour de force for those activists, NGOs, and academics wanting to understand the forces at play when we talk about the democratization of finance. A must read!"
--Thomas Marois, Senior Lecturer, SOAS University of London, author of States, Banks and Crisis and other publications

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Democracy Collaborative (June 1, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 426 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0998471917
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0998471914
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.08 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.51 x 0.87 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 77

About the author

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Ellen Hodgson Brown
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Ellen Brown is an attorney, co-founder and chair of the Public Banking Institute, and the author of thirteen books and hundreds of articles (all on her blog at http://EllenBrown.com). Her books include the bestselling "Web of Debt" and "Nature's Pharmacy," co-authored with Dr. Lynne Walker, along with "The Public Bank Solution" and her latest book "Banking on the People." She graduated from UC Berkeley in 1967 and from UCLA Law School in 1977; practiced law for ten years in Los Angeles; then spent 11 years abroad, in Kenya, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, with her husband and two children. Her websites are http://EllenBrown.com, http://webofdebt.com, and http://publicbankinginstitute.org.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
77 global ratings
Good news.... ELIMINATE INCOME TAX ON LABOR.... TAX WALL STREET INSTEAD.
5 Stars
Good news.... ELIMINATE INCOME TAX ON LABOR.... TAX WALL STREET INSTEAD.
Ellen Brown's books are the best read you can get on Money and Banking. She writes wonderful news, and is easy to read. This 3rd book in the Trilogy of Money and Banking is the most controversial because she proves there is no need for income taxation, when we have Public Banking. We can have "all the money we need" to rebuild our country. Do yourself a favor. Read these books. They make perfect sense. The reason banksters lie to you, is because they know if they tell you the truth, they are finished. Ye shall know the truth and it will set you free. (But first you will get really upset).Ellen's book, Web of Debt will provide a wonderful explanation of why banksters hide their real operations, just like the Wizard from OZ. Henry Ford quote "If the people knew how money is created, there would be a revolution by morning". Hint: it is created out of thin air, just like insurance.Ellen's book, The Public Banking Solution explains all the hows and whys of creating Public Banks in every state, just like The Public Bank of North Dakota. Check it out or buy it. Public banking is how we take our country back from the banksters.Buy all three of Ellen Brown's books and you will have better information about how Money and Banking actually work and how they actually SHOULD WORK, than any PHD course in this country.Check out all Public Banking Institute videos on youtube. Specially the one with Ellen Brown and Michael Hudson. You will become "giddy" from the Good News. Just imagine. (john lennon, we still miss you)Ellen Brown would be a great Treasury Secretary of the USA. Bernie, Liz, are you listening?Tax on labor is percentage slavery. Example: 100% tax = complete slave to taxation; so if tax rate is 45% (total all taxes), then you are a debt slave to taxes". I hope all the candidates for POTUS explain why they CAN'T fund a UBI, after Bernie tells them how we CAN.Get some popcorn. This debate could get interesting. Cheers for every mention of Public Banking.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023
Clear explanation of Hamiltonian economics incorporates Bitcoin into the mix as an acceptable and fair medium of exchange. Xi not America uses this system to lift millions out of poverty.
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2019
I have read many books on Money and Banking over the last 30 plus years, and this is the most creative and innovative book I have read. Ellen Brown has come up with many real solutions that can take the money power away from the private bankers, and give it back to the public where the Founders originally intended it to be.

By Federalizing the Central Bank and giving the Treasury the power to issue the currency, the Debt Money systems comes to an end! No longer will the Treasury have to issue interest paying Bonds to raise money to operate the Government.

The Constitution in Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 says the Congress shall have the Power to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures.

To coin is used as a verb. At the time the Constitution was written, to coin money meant to create or to make money. Today’s Dictionary defines to coin as a verb meaning to make or to invent.

In 1871 (Knox vs. Lee) the Supreme Court ruled that the Government has the legal right to issue money (Greenbacks) debt free. This was challenged in 1872 (Parker vs. Davis) and in 1884 (Julliard vs. Greenman), and the Supreme Court again ruled that the Government has the legal right to issue the currency. The legal right of the Government to issue the currency has been considered “settled law” since 1871.

The Treasury can then pay off the $23 Trillion National Debt with US Treasury dollars in electronic form as all the bonds come due. All interest would be paid in US Treasury dollars, debt free. Over the next 30 years the entire National Debt will be paid off, freeing the next generation of a National Debt.

I highly recommend you read this book to learn how the Money and Banking system can be reformed to operate in the 21st Century!
14 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2019
Very informative. Difficult to grasp all that is presented. It leaves me with more questions than answers which frustrates me. Nonetheless, worth the money. I would have given 5 stars if it was easier for the layperson to fully inderstand.
Jeff M.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2019
Ellen Brown has forthrightly highlighted the need for basic banking services to be restored to their rightful sphere: in the public domain. In her book "Banking on the People", she goes into a fair amount of detail about why the current financial system is untenable, and how and why a new system of publicly-based services would work. Also included are some basic expositions of different monetary systems which have come the fore in the last few decades or so, with their pros and cons. One of my favorite sections is a discussion of allowing the public to open accounts directly with the Federal Reserve (Ch 13, mainly). I believe as she does that this would prove hugely popular with the public, and do more to stimulate the economy than "...merely tampering with interest rates or propping up Wall Street...".

This is a great read that presents fundamental ideas of the economy and finance in an understandable manner, that are essential for every American (and people around the world, too) to know - and for which to advocate. Ms. Brown leads all chapters with relevant quotations from historical figures, and among the best are from Keynes: "The difficulty lies not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones", and from R. Buckminster Fuller: "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2023
Sincce 1948, when the banks set up the works to keep the common man poor. They set up" Accrual Accounting" which lets corporations class people as an asset, then write off them use and worn out or dead. Zero accounting began. Before then, there was no "0" on the fooks, only nine numbers. Since then, the buck stops in their pockets!
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2020
"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." Henry Ford The pitchforks are not yet out in force but regular people are angry and afraid. Unfortunately, much of the populist anger has been misdirected toward immigrants, minorities, and other powerless scapegoats while the real culprits grow richer and more powerful. Ellen Brown has always been a powerful voice for public banking but this current work is a fabulous update which extends the focus to digital currencies and introduces non-technical readers to modern monetary theory. We are entering a new era with new possibilities which demand different ways of thinking, organizing, and working which create and expand the emergence of abundance. We have the tools to realize abundance and distribute it fairly. We need to destroy some strongly held erroneous assumptions if we hope to do so. This book is a good place for the angry and fearful populists of today to discover the assumptions responsible for their plight.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2022
Brown writes clearly and explains a complex system very well. Parts of it were a little beyond me, but the last few chapters were disturbingly clear - and they explain why America needs to change its complex and vulnerable system of banking before it’s too late! Ellen Brown suggests public banking as the alternative to private banking and clearly states her reasons, leaving the reader with some hope!
There are summaries at the end of every chapter and a banking history at the end of the book which I found very useful.
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2022
If we were to follow just one of Ellen Brown's suggestions, creating postal banks and allowing all individuals, businesses, and local governments the same privileges that today only private banks have, we would have a much fairer economic system. And we would save the USPS!

Top reviews from other countries

Lawrence Lefcort
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone who interested in a better economic future
Reviewed in Canada on September 30, 2019
As usual, Ellen Brown's writing is engaging, clear, succinct, and compellingly-written. Her research, references, and footnotes are incredible, and provide a wealth of additional resources to further one's knowledge about the subject. Anyone interested in changing our banking and financial system for the better should read this book.