As the inaugural PBI conference on Public Banking in America quickly approaches, we’d like to share some articles written by our keynote speaker, Gar Alperovitz—noted professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland and Co-Founder of the Democracy Collaborative—in the hope that the wisdom therein will encourage you to join us in Philadelphia, April 27-28^th.   
Rooms are at a premium, so if you’re interested, sign up soon.

In the first article—“Neither Revolution nor Reform” — Gar discusses the  potential for change within a society if “a system neither reforms nor collapses in crisis.” In the second article—“Worker-Owners of the World, Unite!”—Gar looks at a trend where “more and more Americans are involved in co-ops, worker-owned companies, and other alternatives to the traditional capitalist model.”

In his conference presentation, Gar will be speaking on “Is there an America beyond corporate dominated capitalism?” expanding upon some of the themes from his latest book, America Beyond Capitalism.

We would also like to draw your attention to a bill before the California Assembly, AB2500, brought by Rep. Ben Hueso, (D-79), for the California Investment Trust, a publicly owned bank for the Golden State. We believe it’s a well-written piece of legislation and a great addition to templates that cities, counties, and states have for moving public monies under public control. We’re also including a link here for a sample support letter to send, if you are a resident of California or as a template for your own local initiatives.

Finally, as the demands on PBI’s time continue to grow with the awareness of public banking in the U.S. and around the world, we’d like to report some traction in our efforts to raise funds for our various programs and ask you to take a look at the ways in which you can support us, including as a founding member or as a supporter of a specific program.

In addition to the upcoming conference, our current priorities include:

1. The Move Our Money campaign, which encompasses our partnering efforts that encourage and support states, counties, cities, and other political subdivisions (tax districts) in transferring their revenues and funds out of private banks, whose objectives conflict with the public interest, and into a network of publicly owned banks, created and managed by democratically elected representatives and their assigns;

2. The Democratizing Money campaign, which focuses on legislative outreach, providing guidance for and testimony concerning public banking legislation; as well as

3. The Great Public Banking Debate (educational material for public debates and events), Restoring Prosperity (educational material for city and county lawmakers and regional supporters), and Student Banking Project (educational outreach).

Despite our meager budget, PBI's Move Our Moneycampaign is already turning heads at the Wall Street Journal.  We can do a lot more, so please considerjoining the Founders' Circle, becoming a 2012 PBI Sponsor, or being a 2012 PBI Member.  And, thank you for considering us as part of your tax-deductible contribution portfolio!