Public Banks
Decarbonisation, Definancialisation and Democratisation

Public banks are dynamic, contested institutions with the potential to decarbonize the environment, definancialise the economy, and democratise global development.

Thomas Marois (Author)

9781108984515, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 May 2023

336 pages, 8 b/w illus. 19 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.138 kg

'This book reconsiders public banks as agents of sustainable development and social inclusion. For decades, public banks were perceived as antiques responsible for financial repression. Marois traces the resurgence of state banking and challenges scholars, activists, and public officials to realize the potential of these often immense financial institutions to reverse the forces of climate change, inequality, and social exclusion. He illuminates the single most important dimension and greatest opportunity for green development and social inclusion of our time.' Kurt Mettenheim, FGV-EAESP, Brazil

Public banks are banks located within the public sphere of a state. They are pervasive, with more than 900 institutions worldwide, and powerful, with tens of trillions in assets. Public banks are neither essentially good nor bad. Rather, they are dynamic institutions, made and remade by contentious social forces. As the first single-authored book on public banks, this timely intervention examines how these institutions can confront the crisis of climate finance and catalyse a green and just transition. The author explores six case studies across the globe, demonstrating that public banks have acquired the representative structures, financial capacity, institutional knowledge, collaborative networks, and geographical reach to tackle decarbonisation, definancialisation, and democratisation. These institutions are not without contradictions, torn as they are between contending public and private interests in class-divided society. Ultimately, social forces and struggles shape how and if public banks serve the public good.

Introducing Public Banks
1. The World of Public Banks
2. Contrasting Evidence, Contending Views: Towards a Dynamic Alternative
3. Credible Legacies, Neoliberal Transition
4. Decarbonisation
5. Definancialisation
6. Democratisation
7. A Democratised Public Bank for a Green and Just Transition: A Proposal
8. Epilogue Public Banks in a Time of COVID-19
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Banking law [LNPB], Alternative & renewable energy industries [KNBT], Banking [KFFK], Economic growth [KCG], Monetary economics [KCBM], Macroeconomics [KCB], Development studies [GTF]