since providing credit to consumers and businessmen is so important to the smooth

[JohnWxy]

running of the economy it should be recognized as a utility. something like the electric company or sewer dept. or the highway dept.

I think the Government should create private-public entity something like the Post office, which will be a public bank. It will provide loans to consumers who want to buy a car or a house and businessmen who need to meet a payroll or buy inventory. The bank would be expected to make a reasonable profit but it would not be involved in any investment banking activities.

This bank would like all other banks be subject to the same regulations commercial banks are. ONe of the banks that either has or will collapse could provide the facilities and personnell to get this public bank started.

this way people would know that whatever was going on in the economy they could get loans at this bank.

[girl gone mad]

1. The reality is..

people need to go back to saving money and paying cash for things.

We can't afford to keep putting so much of our limited earnings into interest payments. The debt bubble caused housing, college and medical costs to soar to unaffordable levels.

[JohnWxy]

2. I am all for people saving more and using less credit. In fact I think

there should be a tax credit to savers (up to a certain amount of savings) to make saving more attractive to people (the tax credit would effectively boost the interest on savings up to a certain amount).

But the reality is credit will always have it's uses. It should however, be used appropriately. IT is the over-use of credit that is not good.

The bush administration kept credit too cheap (thank you, Mr. Greenspan) to boost the housing market because nothing else in the economy was doing any good. They boosted housing with too cheap credit to mask a sick economy.

But, if you can't rely on the banking industry to behave responsibly lets have a public bank that WILL be run responsibly so that if the private banks freeze credit people will have somewhere to go to get a loan.

[tama]

3. Here's your problem

>>>The bank would be expected to make a reasonable profit but it would not be involved in any investment banking activities.<<<

Nationalizing all banks (including and especially Federal Reserve) and issuing people's money is a good money. But only if taking interest (usury) is declared illegal. And sin. So no "profit making" because that requires perpetual growth in a limited enviroment and means self-destruction. Profit making is killing us all.

Ideally, the people's bank could just give money as gift for real and honest and sustainable needs. And people would give excess money they don't need as gift to the bank.