Banks
I support:
- Introducing a public investment bank for the city
- Establishing a public commercial bank for DC based on the UK’s Girobank
- Tightening regulations on banks within the city
- Abolishing bank penalty fees for overdrafts and returned checks
Sadly, ever since the latest capitalist crash of 2008, the federal government has enacted little meaningful reform of the country’s financial system. None of the Wall Street crooks whose reckless and shady dealings led to the crash in the first place were sent to prison for their crimes. Elected representatives working at the local level have a responsibility to step up and take the kind of action that the federal government has failed to do.
If I were on the Council, I would propose the foundation of a both a public investment bank for the District and also a public commercial based on Germany’s Sparkassen and the UK’s (sadly now defunct) Girobank in order to provide public sector alternatives to the private mega-banks that currently proliferate.