For In These Times, Adam Simpson and Thomas Hanna write about how North Dakota’s radical history carries valuable lessons for today’s public banking movement. One hundred years ago July 28, a bank in Bismarck, N.D., opened its doors for the very first time. This would have been an unremarkable event

This book takes the reader step by step through modern money creation, explores improvements made possible by advances in digital technology, and proposes upgrades that could transform our outmoded 19th century system into one that is democratic, sustainable, and serves the needs of the 21st century.

Laura Flanders speaks to former Goldman Sachs managing director Nomi Prins, author of “Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World,” and the Democracy Collaborative’s Thomas Hanna believe that banking, and development, could be very different.

In The Next System Project’s first policy brief, Democracy Collaborative Fellow Ellen Brown, founder and president emeritus of the Public Banking Institute, explores what’s wrong with President Trump’s approach to infrastructure. Brown also identifies an even bolder approach that could bring the costs of investment in infrastructure down to zero.

The monetary policy known as “quantitative easing” has been grabbing headlines recently. For months it has been at the center of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s platform, where it’s cited as a way to “cancel student debt” and “bail out” a debt-shackled generation of former students

This report from The Democracy Collaborative explores ways in which impact investors can help build an inclusive economy by accelerating the growth of broad-based ownership models — worker cooperatives, social enterprises, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), hybrid enterprises, and municipal enterprise.

These are some of the key facts and figures on how community development corporations build community wealth. Click here for more information, history, and featured resources on community development corporations.

At age 60, when many of her friends are considering retirement, Josefina Luna is chair of the board of CERO Cooperative Inc. CERO is a five-member worker-owned cooperative on a mission to encourage composting and create jobs in the hard-up Boston neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester, and East Boston

ELLSWORTH, Maine – The Maine Community Foundation is one of the nation’s best at finding ways to build community wealth using new approaches, according to a report released today. The report by the Maryland-based Democracy Collaborative names the Ellsworth-based foundation one of the Innovative 30

Our infographic on the impacts and benefits of community development financial institutions.

This report offers an overview of how 30 representative community foundations, large and small, urban and rural, are working toward adopting this new anchor mission.

This new report, authored by Democracy Collaborative Senior Fellow Marjorie Kelly, offers a comprehensive framework of community investing, ownership, and wealth control models to enhance the social, ecological, and economic well-being of rural areas. Clearly articulating the challenges involved

Public banks and credit unions weathered the last crisis much better than private banks, benefiting the communities they served as well. And many experts believe that it’s only a matter of time before the next financial crisis hits. To weather the next one well, we need to ensure that our individual and collective resources strengthen the types of financial institutions that are democratically accountable, economically stable, mission oriented, and that are actively helping build and keep wealth locally in our communities.