A radical perspective on banks

In the future, banks as we know them, will not exist.

1. Operational banking will be publicly managed and intervened. Since all financial operations will have to be done through electronic means (so fraud and money laundering are controlled), governments will fully regulate them; the same way they regulate education, healthcare and other services that citizens have agreed as mandatory and needed for human survival.
2. Speculative investment banking and wild trading will slowly disappear. Technology will give people the power to invest their savings directly on those causes, business and people’s projects they trust and believe in with very little need for middlemen. Investors (people) will be willing to take the risk themselves and will keep ‘secured savings’ for the bad times managed by operational financial entities, as said, already regulated (point 1.) to do what they are meant to do (secure the savings). Wealth advisers will work for virtual platforms analysing companies, risk and helping direct investors make the most of their money on the causes and business that people will want to support.
3. Current aggressive trading and speculative investment practices will be treated as gambling. They will be either openly banned or super heavily taxed, so that money is reintroduced into good causes. In reality, it should be made illegal, but, what do you do with compulsive gamblers and misers? They exist, we’d better have them under control and discourage people believe their behaviour is good and normal. They are addicts.

A positive view of what we, normal well-intentioned humans, will do in this context:

Being rewarded for a job, product or service for life will not be possible anymore. The early initial investment that our parents and society made on us will no longer be a guarantee of survival. Living longer will be associated to working differently at different stages of our life to contribute within our limits (age, strength, intelligence). Services that will be no longer required will quickly disappear and labor survivors will reconvert not to become poor. Wealth (yes, wealthy people and less wealthy people will still exist) will be naturally associated to the capacity of individuals to contribute to knowledge, evolution and wellbeing of others. A person will easily transition from different wealth stages, past positive progress toward better conditions will not be guaranteed (it is not the case anymore, anyway). However, it can be a more fair system by design, more meritocratic.

This might be a future further away for some societies than it is for others. However, governments (politicians chosen by citizens to represent them to help them live) had better start working to bring in the policies to make this world happen. Otherwise, chances are that citizens will decide that they do not need politicians to rule them anymore. In my view, not working towards a better ideal world will lead us to the ancient bipolar world (privileged people exploiting less privileged people),  not bringing any progress but regression to darker ages. I believe that at this stage of our evolution, people will not accept it without revolt, it is no longer a choice.

This blog entry is dedicated to my friend Sven, who encourages me to continue writing each time he sees me. Thanks, Sven!