US Depositor's Bank

Cid_Yama · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:17 pm Post subject: US Depositor's Bank

There is currently talk of creating a National Bank to serve as toxic trashcan for the banks funded by the taxpayer.

I've got a better idea. How about the US create a National Depositor's Bank. A non-profit institution who's sole purpose is to hold deposits. No interest would be paid and a small transaction fee charged to cover operational costs.

No loans would be made, no debt purchased, sole assets would be the deposits.

Any commercial banks that survive can do the rest of the business, but no FDIC coverage, no federal funding or bailouts.

That way deposits at the depositors bank are always secure as the bank is unable to fail. No need for FDIC.

No need, ever to 'rescue' other financial institutions. So no socializing of losses.
_________________
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

It riles them to believe that you perceive the webs they weave. - Moody Blues

burtonridr · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 03, 2007 Posts: 763

Cid_Yama · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:40 pm Post subject: Re: US Depositor's Bank

Primarily I was proposing it as a safe solution for transactions such as payrolls, which are usually too large for coverage by FDIC. Also, you avoid the problem of where to put your cash on the sidelines.

A safe place for institutions to drop large sums, where you don't have to worry what's happening to it.

A lot of the volitility in the markets has been caused by large sums trying to find a safe place to sit. Almost like musical chairs.

If you want interest, you accept the risk of placing your money elsewhere.
_________________
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

It riles them to believe that you perceive the webs they weave. - Moody Blues

Tyler_JC · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject: Re: US Depositor's Bank

There is a such thing as a risk free investment.

The bank could investment in short term government bonds like the 6 month US treasury bill which yields 1.5%.

That would be better interest than most savings accounts and if they staggered the purchases, the bank would always have enough capital to allow for depositors to take out some of their money and pay for the upkeep of the fund.

Think of it as a low-yield, risk-free money market account.

Unfortunately...headline CPI is ragging at a minimum of 6% per year so putting your money in this account is not a very good investment.
_________________
"www.peakoil.com is the Myspace of the Apocalypse."

Cid_Yama · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:49 pm Post subject: Re: US Depositor's Bank

The purpose of making no loans, purchasing no debt, basically making no investments is to make the bank fail-proof so insurance is unnecessary, and the bank cannot be 'looted'.
_________________
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

It riles them to believe that you perceive the webs they weave. - Moody Blues

burtonridr · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 03, 2007 Posts: 763

Dreamtwister · Fission Joined: Feb 06, 2006 Posts: 2307

alokin · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 24, 2007 Posts: 885

I would like to have another type of bank ( even the depositors banks seems to be a good idea, but there are Islamic banks which runs without interest), well I would like to buy a piece of land. At the moment I cannot afford this. But I may be able to pay all the money I save into this bank. Meanwhile the bank buys land and gives it to those who saved up sufficiently. I might be able to buy the rights to 1 square meter each month of valuable land or ten square metres of desert land.
(And this bank should be in Australia, of course)

MOCKBA · Heavy Crude Joined: Sep 05, 2005 Posts: 469

MOCKBA · Heavy Crude Joined: Sep 05, 2005 Posts: 469

On somewhat related note, I like how T.Boone Pickens is spending his money to educate the masses that there is a solution to their oil addiction here today... only to make more money that he doesn't need but does deserve because he is brighter then the most...

The scheme proposed by Cid_Yama a self-proclaimed peak oil historian is how a bank (and there was just one) in Soviet Russia operated - the government deposited your paychecks into an institution that employed bunch of beurocrats but otherwise served no purpose... To this day (and this is over 10 years after commercialization) this bank would make you remember long forgoten written Russian by making you write two legal size sheets of paper in order to make a simple utility payment... Suits some people just fine I suppose... Could be good for some parts of US too, since definitely would improve literacy rates... No Internet, check card or any of that capitalist bullshit, just huge blanks where one need to write a lot and God forbid make a mistake (white-out is also capitalist thing) - corrections are not accepted on official Bank documents, gotta practice your writing skills, sorry... Definitely this is the thing we need to improve literacy... I nominate Cid_Yama for chairman!

Would be bad for environment though, so if you are green please forget about literacy and bank somewhere else....

catbox · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:52 am Post subject: Re: US Depositor's Bank

My safe seems pretty SAFE these days!
_________________
Punk is not really a style of music. It was more like a state of mind.
-Mike Watt