Organized Money: How Progressives Can Leverage the Financial System to Work for Them, Not Against Them

by Keith Mestrich, Mark A. Pinsky

Overview

Two leading figures from the world of finance show how progressives can take their money away from conservative financial institutions and put it to good, lasting social use

The U.S. financial system may be working for some people, but it isn't working for most of us who care about progressive causes. In fact, our financial system taps your money to pay for a conservative agenda. It's a heads-they-win, tails-you-lose game when the fees you pay to use your credit card finance fossil fuels even when you buy green products. Conservative "money muscle" shapes our culture, society, politics, and public policy.

In this bold call to action, two leaders from the world of progressive finance propose a strategy to challenge this conservative dominance of the financial sector: organized progressive money. It's a $10 trillion plan for a full- service, market-scale progressive financial system. Mestrich and Pinsky explain how progressives can take control with financial institutions of their own and products that align with progressive values.

Organized Money warns that until progressives organize their money, they will lose again and again while conservatives will keep winning. It's a crucial message for the next progressive era, starting with the make-or-break 2020 election cycle, where American voters will be presented with a choice between conservative market fundamentalism that leaves them out or inclusive restorative capitalism that is good for people as well as profits.

Written in clear, engaging prose for non- financial readers and finance leaders alike, Organized Money is required reading for everyone ready to confront the excesses of conservative power and influence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620975046
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	10/08/2019
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Keith Mestrich is the president and CEO of Amalgamated Bank, the nation's leading socially responsible bank. With twenty-five years of experience working in the labor movement and nonprofit organizations, Keith is a leader in the effort to build wealth for a purpose, not just for a profit. He is the co-author, with Mark Pinsky, of Organized Money: How Progressives Can Leverage the Financial System to Work for Them, Not Against Them (The New Press). Mark A. Pinsky led the $150 billion community development financial institution (CDFI) industry from 1995 to 2016. With a track record of aligning capital with social, economic, environmental, and political justice, he was the strategic leader for the industry's growth from $2 billion to $140 billion. He is the author and editor of several books and speaks regularly on finance and society. He lives in Philadelphia, where he runs Five/Four Advisors, a strategic advisory firm.

Table of Contents

Preface: The Problem 1

It's a "heads they win, tails you lose" game. What are your odds?

1 You and Your Money 17

If you don't know how the financial system works, it probably doesn't work for you.

2 Market Fundamentalism 31

The financial system must be working for someone. Who?

3 Missing the Opportunity 55

If you want to see how far off track we are, follow the money going to Opportunity Zones.

4 What Is Money Muscle? 65

When you make yourself indispensable, you're powerful.

5 Progress in Mainstream Money 81

This is not the first time progressives have seen signs of change in conventional finance, so what's different now?

6 The Public-Purpose Economy 113

If you want to build a progressive financial system, you need a vision of the purpose it will serve.

7 Pumping Progressive Money Muscle 125

Is progressive money muscle even a thing?

8 Progressive Finance in the United States 141

We have a 250-year history of inclusive and progressive finance that is central to our economic and social gains. It is hidden in plain sight. It is surging now.

9 The Foundation of a Progressive Finance Network 161

In practice, progressive financial institutions have many of the building blocks they need to begin assembling an infrastructure that works for them.

10 Whose Wealth Is It Anyway? 179

Progressives have more wealth than most people know. Where is it? What is it doing?

11 Organizing Progressive Money for Power and Influence 199

Progressives have never lacked ideas and vision. Organizing our money is an unprecedented strategy to power progressive gains.

Conclusion: Take a Shot! 233

We need to create the financial system Alexander Hamilton intended.

Authors' Note 245

Abbreviations 249

Selected Resources 255

Notes 261

Index 279

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Organized Money:
"The authors provide many concrete examples of specific progressive enterprises that organize money [and] do good service in laying out the foundational principles of a nascent but growing movement. . . . A thought-provoking primer."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Money is leverage and power. In this striking book, both wide-ranging and fast-paced, Mestrich and Pinsky show that if progressives organize our money as well as our people and our ideas, we can build the muscle to make profound and lasting change."
—Felicia Wong, president and CEO, Roosevelt Institute

"Required reading for activists who are interested in crafting practical tools as powerful as their passion."
—Marc Morial, president and CEO, National Urban League

"Building on both extensive research and their own hard-won expertise, Mestrich and Pinsky, both pioneers in developing progressive financial system innovations, outline a strategy that cannot be ignored, even by those entrenched in the status quo."
—Janet Murguía, president and CEO, UnidosUS

"Mestrich and Pinsky offer us a vision of restorative capitalism, a call to action to work together, and a compelling strategy to get it done."
—Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder, B Lab and the B Corp movement

"In this provocative and must-read book, Mestrich and Pinsky argue that the financial system is ultimately a public good, created by and for the public. . . . Organized Money provides a vision for a democratized financial system that serves, rather than exploits, we the people."
—K. Sabeel Rahman, president, Demos, and author of Democracy Against Domination

"Mestrich and Pinsky show us the solutions that progressives are exploring to use their capital to express their values, and how you can join them and fight back too."
—Morris Pearl, chairperson, Patriotic Millionaires

"The world today requires entirely new approaches, and Organized Money is unlike any effort before it to align money and value."
—Jeremy Heimans, CEO, Purpose, and co-author of New Power

From the Publisher

2019-08-18
An exploration of how politically and socially progressive individuals can invest their money with financial institutions seeking to alleviate socio-economic inequities.

Mestrich is the president of Amalgamated Bank, described as "the nation's leading socially responsible bank," and Pinsky is a former leader of what is known as the community development financial institution industry. The authors devote much of the book to educating their readers on the financial system. They understand that even the most politically progressive individuals tend to deposit their savings in nearby bank branches due to habit and/or convenience as well as buy insurance from massive corporations that feed elected officials tied to anti-egalitarian conservative politics. "Organized money holds immense power and influence, which we call money muscle," write the authors. "The U.S. financial sector is the dominant economic, policy, political, social, and cultural force in the world. It largely determines who in the private and public sectors gets to do what with the extraordinary amount of money in play. And it is deeply and proudly conservative." Mestrich and Pinsky are convinced that progressives control enough money—though not nearly as much as conservatives—to create their own financial institutions, which will then practice socially responsible investing. One example is Mestrich's Amalgamated Bank, another is the credit union, an institution controlled by its members. The authors provide many other concrete examples of specific progressive enterprises that organize money so it can be leveraged in ways that would disdain most conservative politicians and financiers. The authors note that while the 2008 financial crash raised awareness of the importance of pulling money away from traditional banks, regulators failed to make any significant improvements or install effective safeguards. The authors do good service in laying out the foundational principles of a nascent but growing movement, but the density of the narrative may deter some readers.

A thought-provoking primer sometimes weighed down by abstraction and repetition.

Kirkus Reviews