Just curious, are you a fan of public banking, you know, like Ellen Brown?

Very much so. The US Post Office is the entity best equipped and placed to serve as the US Bank to offer simple deposit and debit service to everyone with a Social Security number. This could include small (<$500) loans as well, which would destroy the payday lending providers. Those loans could be secured with the government’s access to the borrower’s tax refunds or added to their tax obligations if not repaid.

The USPS already offers some financial services such as money orders and wire transfers. Any business that has the capability to track millions of packages down to the GPS location of the delivery person is surely capable of providing online banking as well. With offices serving every zip code, the USPS is already uniquely situated to provide banking to currently underserved areas.

A large contributor to crime rates in poor areas is the heavy reliance upon cash in the absence of banking service to offer debit cards in those areas. Both the people and businesses would benefit from less cash to attract criminal activity. Those who transact business in cash are much more prone to impulse spending, so having a debit account could be a beneficial factor in disciplining those who are not good with managing their money. A not-for-profit banking system would also eliminate many of the fees that are punishing to the poor in the current banking system.