Join in the Effort to Break Up the Big Banks

If you were here yesterday, you may have seen the case that James Boyce and Paul Abrams laid out for breaking up the big banks. I want to reiterate the importance of having balance among the competing interests in Washington, and the security that comes from an economy in which no small group can affect the financial well-being of millions.

Judging by the list of people who have endorsed this policy, I think we may be onto something.

If they're too big to fail, they're too big - Alan Greenspan (Former Fed Chairman)

. . .there is growing agreement that such financial institutions should. . . be made to plan for their own orderly wind down - Mervyn King (Governor of Bank of England)

Approved breaking up Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock - The European Union (Multi-national Governing Body)

We need to end 'too big to fail' and this needs to be an overarching policy that applies to everyone - Sheila Bair (FDIC Chief and Person who has to Bail Out Banks)

The obvious place to start in this effort is the break-up of the "too big to fail" behemoths. - Dean Baker (Economist Extraordinaire)

We have little to lose, and much to gain, by breaking up these behemoths, which are not just too big to fail, but also too big to save and too big to manage. - Joseph Stigletz (Ditto with a Nobel prize)

Those banks are just too big. Someone should break them up. - Charlotte Havey (My Mother)

A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse! - William Shakespeare (Author: Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare in Love)

(Don't believe me on the Shakespeare thing? Richard III makes this plea as he is fleeing from an invading army raised by people he used for his personal gain and betrayed. If that isn't an allegory for what must be done to the banks - I don't know what is.)

But I digress -

I write to say that there is a movement afoot, and I'd like you to join us. Several organizations are cooking up a number of ways to make this change happen. Some favor direct pressure on the banks like the Showdown in Chicago, others are organizing to strengthen legislation pending in Congress, some are taking their opinions to President Obama, and still other are seeking other (non-violent) means to secure the future of the global economy.

Whichever of these ways appeals to you, I urge you to get involved in one or all of them. The campaign I am working on is at www.breakupthebigbanks.com, and we've got some fun (yet to be disclosed) ideas in the works. Come check us out.

Its time to stand up, and get down to work strengthening our economy. We've got a lot of things going for us. Signs are looking up and we need to make sure that we clear the way for sustainable prosperity to take root once again.

P.S. If you want to do something right now, how about helping us build our twitter presence? Tweet this: "Join the movement for a stable economy: #FF @breakupbigbanks"

 

Follow Nathan Havey on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nhavey

Comments

[Bethab]

We're about to move to San Francisco and are ready to do our part by severing our ties to Bank of America. Does anyone know of a good credit union up there? Neither of us works at a company that offers one. How do you know if a credit union is good?

[Nathan Havey - Huffpost Blogger]

You are in great shape. San Francisco is home to a number of the the leading socially responsible community banks in the U.S. THe question you need to ask is not whether there is one, but which one you'd like to be a part of!

http://www.yelp.com/topic/san-francisco-best-bank-for-business-preferably-socially-responsible

This link has a lively (and occasionally crass) discussion of banks in the Bay area.

Enjoy!

[Bethab]

Thank you so much!!

[SavvyLass]

Yes, I've been thinking lately about joining a credit union myself. It seems that the only way to send a message to these monster banks is to close out your account and bank with a smaller, local branch.

I'm currently weighing the pros and cons, and there are a couple of decent credit unions in my area I'm looking into. I was a patron of Washington Mutual for years, and now of course it's Chase. What a nightmare. I went in the other day to obtain a cashier's check, and not only was the line ridiculously long; not only were there other customers complaining about the lack of efficient service, but when I finally got to the teller, I was informed that, although Wamu never charged for a cashier's check, Chase would be charging my account $8.

I calmly informed them right back that I thought this was BS. It's not about the 8 ruddy dollars--it's about the fact that these banks broke our backs with their horrific greed, and they continue to have the nerve to charge us on everything from cashier's checks to overdraft fees, to ATM fees, etc.

Well, the manager came over, and she waived that $8 fee. I don't know whether it was because the whispers behind me had grown into a steady rumble after my calm but clear declaration of bullsh#@, but I figured, who knows... ? You get enough angry citizens together and maybe, just maybe, they'll begin to get the message.