Created Equal: Is local banking the key to economic prosperity?

Over the years, local banks have been absorbed by larger institutions and are less prevalent than they once were.

Oscar Perry Abello, senior economic justice correspondent for Next City, has been reporting on local banks for years and is now working on a book about it. He believes local banks are more connected to the communities’ values and can better suit the needs of individuals — especially those in underserved communities.

In his reporting, Abello notes that in 1985 — the year he was born — there were 15,000 community banks holding 37% of banking industry assets, while today there are just 4,200 community banks holding 11% of banking industry assets. Abello joined Created Equal on Monday to talk about his upcoming book and how local or state banks expand banking access.   

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Guest:

Oscar Perry Abello is a senior economic justice correspondent for the urban magazine Next City. He says North Dakota’s state-owned bank helped upscale the state’s oil industry, which was booming right around the time of 2008 recession.

“When the rest of the country’s housing market was crashing, in North Dakota because you have the stabilizing force of a state-owned bank it was able to roll right into, like, oh no, we can build all the little things you need around where the shale oil is,” Abello said.

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.