Rather than underwriting private interests and the privatization of public services, the Canada Infrastructure Bank can build a better democratic institutional legacy.
By working with allies, the Biden administration has been able to place severe sanctions on Russia – including targeting Putin’s inner circle and banning banks from SWIFT.
The Reserve Bank’s Term Funding Facility was meant to support lending during COVID. Instead the funds might be ending up in the accounts of bank shareholders.
A handful of banks now dominate the US financial sector. This consolidation has resulted in higher costs for consumers and small businesses and put the economy at greater risk of a financial crisis.
It isn’t just the effects of climate change that could destabilize the financial system, it’s also fossil fuel assets losing value. The good news is that central banks can fix it.
Canada doesn’t have many public banks. The best known, the Canada Infrastructure Bank, seems intent on privatizing critical public services instead of working towards the public good.
Yes, the bank would effectively pay you to borrow money. But negative interest rates won’t please savers, nor will they meet the big challenges of economic recovery.
Westpac and the ANZ have suspended dividends payments. The National Australia Bank has slashed them. The peculiarities of our tax system explain why retirees hate this more than they should.