Web of Debt Study Group

A new study group will study The Web of Debt, by Ellen Hodgson Brown, who has spoken twice in Sonoma.

Public banking was first introduced in America by the Quakers in the original colony of Pennsylvania.  Other colonial governments also established publicly-owned banks. The concept was later embraced by North Dakota, currently the only state with its own bank.

As of 2010, North Dakota was also the only state sporting a major budget surplus; it had the lowest unemployment and default rates in the country; and it had the most community banks per capita, suggesting that a state-owned bank actually helps local banks.

Wall Street, in contrast, invented hedge funds and derivatives.  An estimated $370 trillion now ride on derivatives -- 28 times the $13 trillion annual output of the entire U.S. economy.

In 2011, Oregon, Washington, and Maryland have introduced bills for state-owned banks, following the North Dakota model. They join Illinois, Virginia, Hawaii, and Massachusetts, which introduced similar bills in 2010.

Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz is a giant allegory throughout the book, with the wizard representing the Robber Barons who brought economic oppression to America's industrial workers (the Tin Man) and farmers (the Scarecrow).  The book explains: Keynes, the Federal Reserve, petrodollars, the Asian Tigers, the Mexican bailout, hedge funds, derivatives, and why the real estate bubble popped. 

Wouldn't it be great to have government pay for itself and solve third world debt?

The study group is free, 5:30 to 6:30 on Tuesdays, in the Village Green community room.  Books are available at cost ($13) and can be obtained ahead of time by calling Lauren Ayers at 939-9999.