A Municipal Bank Would Radiate Happiness

With my wife Vivienne I recently attended an open day at the former Municipal Bank headquarters in Broad Street. This was an interesting event being the initiative of local artists who used the still fine premises as the basis for showing their work. While the upstairs rooms were not accessible on this occasion, the main banking hall with its improving mottoes (e.g. ‘Thrift Radiates Happiness’) was still splendid as was the safe deposit area in the vault.
Whilst there we met people who have still retained their deposit books and former staff who used to work there. All remembered those better financial days with much fondness and would be delighted at the prospect of a re-opening.
So I was very pleased to see Cllr John Clancy’s article in this week’s Birmingham Post commending the re-establishment of the late and much lamented Birmingham Municipal Bank. Both Cllr Clancy and myself have been long term proponents of this possibility and I’ve made numerous postings on this blog to this effect.
There seems to have been a partial awakening at national level that some kind of regionalism in banking might be a good idea. In my view any such developments if they came about should not – repeat not – be left to the tender mercies of the private financial sector - to which political parties have been so wedded over the years - and which of course is primarily responsible for the fine mess that the country is now in.
These people simply cannot be trusted. There needs to be a simple and reliable service to ordinary people – especially savers. The former Municipal Bank with 40 or so branches throughout the city also issued mortgages at reasonable rates that didn’t need switching every ten minutes.
Any re-creation of this noble and thoroughly trustworthy service could also extend to the provision of finance to small businesses and supporting the issuance of municipal bonds so that local people can be part of the regeneration of our infrastructure (as was the case with the original construction of the Town Hall).
Also of course, the bank’s work should include support for manufacturing industry which was the main remit of the banks founded in Birmingham which shall be nameless now morphed as they are into unrecognisable, useless and globalised entities.
It would be entirely acceptable if a re-established Municipal Bank cast its net more widely throughout the region as suggested in Cllr Clancy’s article since ordinary people and small businesses throughout the West Midlands have been just as ill served by the bonus brigade as folk in Birmingham. If so I would suggest the name: ‘The Greater Birmingham Municipal Bank’. That really would be great and would radiate happiness more widely, but bearing in mind earlier false dawns – don’t start holding your breath just yet! 

The Virtuous Economy, Respect and an Approach to the Common Good

As a follow on to the previous posting (In place of Austerity) I’m making available as a pdf the full article from which this was drawn. If you would like to see the item in full, email me as MWi8327963@aol.com and I will send you a copy (it does not seem possible to upload a pdf on blogspot).
The article is a study of the present state of the economy and society, what would be the characteristics of a Virtuous Economy, the importance of restoring respect for ordinary people, the relation of these desiderata to the Common Good, and how each might be achieved.
The contents of the paper are:
1 The State We're In
2 The Virtuous Economy
3 Restoring the Balance
4 Well-being in the Virtuous Economy
5 Virtuous Exemplar Institutions
6 An Economy for the Common Good
7 The Virtuous Economy and the Good Society
8 Regenerating the Economy
9 Getting There
10 Towards the Common Good
The proposals are radical and undoubtedly challenging and I hope that you will find something with which to agree.

In Place of Austerity

Isn’t it amazing – some senior politicians not on the tea-party right are now suggesting that austerity may impede economic growth! Would you credit it? Who would have believed that deep cutting in a protracted recession could have such an effect?
In many postings on this blog I’ve mentioned particular policies and actions that I believe are needed to remedy our current parlous condition and move towards the common good. They differ very sharply from current policies and orthodoxies. In this posting I draw them together and add others in a similar vein.
Taxation:
 Flat rate National Insurance – all income levels above the minimum wage 40-hour income.
 Increase the top rate of income tax to approximately 53% to a total 60% with National Insurance contribution.
 Re-introduce a starter rate of 10% for income tax.
 Two higher bands of Council Tax.
 Introduce a financial transactions tax along with other European countries
 Introduce a windfall tax to deal with excessive profits and bonuses.
 Simplify the tax code removing loopholes and increasing penalties for evasion.
International:
 Take the lead in dealing with tax havens.
 Form an international group to identify ways to eliminate cheating in trade, abusive working practices, use of child labour, environmental damage etc. and start winding back adverse aspects of globalisation.
Public Expenditure and ownership:
 No further cuts to benefits with some restoration.
 No further cuts in grants to Local Authorities with some restoration.
 Greatly increased infrastructure spend especially transportation and power with some public ownership.
 Reform public sector purchasing with awareness of external effects and constructed to favour domestic suppliers.
 Renationalisation of and major investment in rail transportation.
 No further privatisations.
Governance:
 Introduce a well-resourced and proactive industrial policy.
 Vigorous decentralisation of Civil Service with relocation to regions.
 Return powers to Local Authorities and allow a much freer rein in terms of enterprise and income generation.
 Reform party political funding to reduce influence on policy and including an element of public funding.
Financial Sector:
 Allow Local Authorities to re-establish Municipal Banks.
 Break up the major banks to separate out retail banking.
Respect and Ethics:
 Produce agenda of respect and ethics to run throughout all organisations.
 Get business commitment and training with incentives if necessary.
Pay:
 Legislate to deal with excessive executive pay and bonuses to achieve similar extent of control as in public sector. This to include windfall taxes.
 Give incentives for companies to adopt a uniform pay structure across all levels and worker shareholding and board representation.
General:
 Clearer identification of goods made in England/UK.
 Have a ‘state approval’ scheme for food suppliers and promote use of domestic producers.
The above are examples intended to illustrate the scope, range and type of initiatives that I believe are needed to reform the economy, restore balanced growth and equity and enhance the common good. They are extracted from a lengthy tract I’ve written entitled ‘The Virtuous Economy, Respect and an Approach to the Common Good’. Much analysis would of course be required on details, levels and the projection of overall impact. But take heart my friends - it could be done if the will was there!