In the case of the Bank of North Dakota the bank's return on equity is about 25%.
In the last decade BND has turned back a third-of-a-billion $ to the state's general fund, offsetting taxes.
The BND avoids competition with private banks, but a publicly-owned bank could enhance profits through commercial lending.
If a majority of individuals and small businesses deposited their money in their State Bank, things would Change.
Uh, problems, though.
Just as North Dakota is the only state with a state-owned bank, Nebraska is the only state with 100% governmentally-owned electric companies.
There is no such thing as a private electric company in Nebraska.
Not a kilowatt.
As with the state bank in North Dakota, governmentally-owned electrical agencies (Public Power Districts) in Nebraska came about because Wall Street and State Street were never willing to electrify Nebraska (outside the big cities), and so the people decided they had to do it themselves.
And it's worked out well.
However.
However.
However.
Both North Dakota and Nebraska are small states, with no significant history of political graft and corruption. Both states are small enough that everybody "knows" everybody else; small enough that those running things are
directly accountable to the people. Just about everybody in Nebraska is to some degree or another intimately acquainted with members of public power boards.
So this sort of "socialism" can work.....
.....but only in small groups.
Imagine Massachusetts, for example, with either a state-owned bank or governmentally-owned electricity--the graft and corruption would be enormous.
Once in a while, a primitive on Skins's island will call for "nationalization" (by the state, not the federal government) of electrical power, which must inevitably result in higher prices for that state's electricity-users.
Imagine Barney Frank getting a "cut" on utility bills.
So it works, but only in small groups of people.
