Public finance for the future we want

What if we used public money to build the systemic solutions needed for
everyone to thrive? What if our money, tax and finance systems could be
radically transformed? What if we could unlock the power of public finance
by deepening democracy?

After the 2008 global financial crisis, big banks were rescued and public
spending was curtailed. This justified ever harsher austerity measures and
reinforced a persistent myth that the public sector must rely on private
finance to solve excessive inequality and ecological destruction.
Today, private finance has not only failed to address these problems, it has
intensified them. The public does not have to rely on the private sector.
Public funds are much bigger than we imagine: equivalent to 93 per cent of
global GDP. Public banks have enough resources to raise the many trillions
needed to invest in public services and climate infrastructure, without
having to turn to private financiers.

This book presents visions of regenerative and redistributive economies,
built with collective power: from the thriving cooperative economy in Kerala,
India, to the hundreds of local saving banks in Germany, the worker-owned
bank Banco Popular in Costa Rica, and the thousands of People’s Credit
Funds in Vietnam. It explores models that could become the new normal
the basis for a democratically organised and life-sustaining future.
The real-world examples in this book demonstrate that a political economy
that curbs the power of big finance and serves people and planet is possible.
The ideas shared here are timely and urgent -a call to readiness before the
next financial bubble bursts.