Gwendolyn Hallsmith, Executive Director of the Public Banking Institute, will appear on Liz Lane’s KGNU program, It’s the Economy at at 6:00 pm on Thursday, January 29, 2015.

KGNU broadcasts at 88.5 FM in Boulder and Denver, 1390 AM in Denver, and 93.7 FM in Nederland. It can also be heard online at kgnu.org.

Gwendolyn Hallsmith most recently made national headlines with her work in Vermont to ask Town Meetings to consider public banking. On March 4, 2014, 18 cities and towns in Vermont voted to endorse a resolution directing the state legislators to create a State Bank for Vermont. The national media has picked up on the story, and there have been now over 20 interviews and print stories about this movement.

Gwen is the author of several books on sustainable communities and economic reform, including her most recent book with Bernard Lietaer entitled Creating Wealth: Growing Local Communities with Local Currencies. She has been an advocate for economic reform for over 25 years, and has implemented new currency projects at the local level in her recent position as the Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Montpelier. Her work spans the globe –- in addition to her work with towns, cities, regions, states, and provinces in the United States and Canada, she has worked in all the major world regions.

She recently accepted the position of Executive Director of the Public Banking Institute (PBI). Her vision for PBI expands their horizons to include many other aspects of a public monetary system, everything from strengthening the possibilities for local investment that the new SEC regulations allow to fostering and supporting local and regional complementary currencies as a means of exchange. She has a deep commitment to local action.

Gwen and Liz will be talking about how public banking could increase employment and strengthen our economy, increase lending to repair infrastructure, reduce home foreclosures, refinance student loans and credit card debt at lower interest rates, promote clean energy and sustainable agriculture, assist education, health care for the underserved, and at the same time reduce or eliminate budget deficits, possibly reduce taxes, and generate a high return on equity. He will also compare what the big private banks are doing (and not doing) with our money, and how that flattens and endangers our economy locally and nationally.

Gwen will also discuss progress being made to establish public banks in states and cities across the nation.