Author: Rosser, Larry B
Summary
This paper is one of a series analyzing publicly initiated strategies to achieve reinvestment. It differs from those that preceded it by describing proposals and one operating program–the state-owned Bank of North Dakota–which put government in the business of directly providing thrift and credit services: a function which traditionally had been reserved to publicly regulated, but privately capitalized, financial institutions. The author points out that public banks are not a new idea. Their roots in the United States can be traced to the late eighteenth century. He also describes the history and operations of the only extant state-owned and operated bank in the country, and surveys proposals from other states, municipalities, and the federal government to establish public banks. Finally, the paper discusses the compatibility of this strategy with other existing state initiatives, and it points out that some constitutional changes might be necessary in Missouri to establish a public bank.
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