In honor of Presidents’ Day, the Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank sponsored a Zoom Town Hall on February 16, 2023. The Town Hall, addressed by Public Banking Institute Chair Ellen Brown, author and former Wall Street Executive Dr. Nomi Prins, Edward Cornell Professor of Law and Finance Robert Hockett, and others, centered on the legacy of Washington and Lincoln’s National Banking and today’s economic crisis.

Just as immense crises faced the Washington and Lincoln administrations, similar challenges confront the U.S. government today. The administration only wants to implement the economic legislation passed in 2022, but the rollout has been anything but impressive. Shovels are barely in the ground from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and that bill itself covers no more than 10% of what needs to be built. No bills to supercharge the economy are being contemplated by the White House or the Republicans. And, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is ramming a recession down the throats of an unwilling American public. The last things we need are job losses and business bankruptcies. 

The only alternative is the National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), which will supercharge the U.S. economy, and is leading the opposition to Powell and his allies. Support for this program is growing. A raft of endorsements have been recently filed or passed across the nation, including the Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco City Councils, the Washington State, Arizona, New Jersey, and New Mexico legislatures, and many more. 

The NIB is a direct echo of the National Banks and infrastructure development policies of Washington and Lincoln, which built the nation into a great power in the 19^th century. The American System, inaugurated by Washington’s Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, launched the commercial and industrial expansion of the United States. This was the signature accomplishment of those two great presidents. In addition, President Franklin Roosevelt. embraced the economic outlook of the martyred Lincoln, and FDR’s advisors transformed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) into a National Bank in that tradition. The RFC became the engine driving the New Deal and the WWII industrial juggernaut. 

This legacy of Presidents’ Day has the power to transform and save the nation. That is the challenge facing our generation of Americans. Please watch this important event. 

Speakers:

Alphecca Muttardy, fmr Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund, Fairfax, VA

Ellen Brown, Chair Public Banking Institute, Los Angeles, CA

 Dr. Nomi Prins, PhD., author; fmr Wall Street Executive, Los Angeles, CA

Professor Robert Hockett, Edward Cornell Professor of Law and Finance, Cornell Law School, NY

Sen. Bruce Ennis, fmr Delaware Senate, Smyrna, DE

Lisa Hicks-Clayton, Treasurer Dearborn Heights, MI

Moderator: Julie Olsen, MBA, Small business owner; Anchorage, AK