Powell Hilary - Bank Job

PRAISE FORBANK JOB

When art meets finance, The Big Bang takes on a whole new meaning. This is brilliant performative protest.

Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics

Banks rob us blind every day, and so Powell and Edelstyn started one that did exactly the opposite. It became a truly great work of art, and this book is a remarkable record of what we should learn from their achievement about the urgent need for debt abolition and peoples financing.

Andrew Ross, author of Creditocracy: And the Case for Debt Refusal

Hilary and Dan are the Bonnie and Clyde of renegade economics, bringing a deeply imaginative, beautiful, rebel swagger to staid debate about debt. I love absolutely everything about Bank Job : its persistence, its guts, its compassion, its attention to detail and beauty. My visit to the Bank will stay with me always, and the ripples from this brave and brilliant project have only just begun.

Rob Hopkins, founder, Transition movement; author of From What Is to What If

In the adventure Dan and Hilary take us on, we see the antiquated architecture of the financial system for what it is and are motivated to join in with them to pull it down so that a new system can be built to meet the great challenges of the 21st century earth-systems breakdown and obscene levels of inequality. This is a timely book, written with passion and verve, that shows how political will, creativity and the arts were deployed to transform the lives of debtors. Dan and Hilarys lived experience will inspire and strengthen the global movement for economic and ecological justice.

Ann Pettifor, author of The Case for The Green New Deal

I cant think of any more exciting expos of the role of debt in blighting peoples lives than this book. As the spectre of debt looms over us in all its forms, from personal to sovereign debt, this book couldnt be more timely. As establishment politicians seek to load the economic burden of the pandemic onto peoples shoulders across the globe, this exhilarating tale inspires the resistance we desperately need.

John McDonnell, MP and former Shadow Chancellor

Were all going around feeling something is wrong but it often ends up veering off in reactionary directions. I think this is wonderful because it marshals that sense of unease and builds it into a community and I love the way you are using it to create ties with each other and cancel debt and expose the sheer hypocrisy of the morality of debt.

David Graeber, anthropologist and author of Bullshit Jobs and Debt: The First 5,000 Years

Art pirates, debt destroyers and dreamers for a new economy unite! Hilary and Dan show us how the power of creativity can be a catalyst for grassroots activism when we need it the most. This book will be treasured by all those who are convinced that the radical imagination can triumph against capitalism.

Max Haiven, Canada Research Chair in Culture, Media and Social Justice; author of Revenge Capitalism and Art After Money, Money After Art

The UK economy is weighed down by billions of pounds worth of unpayable debt much of it owed by low-income households struggling to get by. With the COVID-19 pandemic slashing peoples incomes after a decade of wage stagnation many households are now on the brink of default, even as the government pumps unprecedented sums of money into our financial system. Bank Job is a vivid portrait of the UKs debt crisis, which also answers the question as to what we should do with all this debt: blow it up!

Grace Blakeley, author of Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialisation

One of the greatest obstacles to change is our inability to believe in or visualise the world being different. Thats where the creative activists and film makers Hilary Powell and Daniel Edelstyn succeed. Their work rips the veil from a banking and financial system which has normalised economic deception and destructive and irresponsible gambling on a vast scale. More than a simple expos of the ludicrous rewards going to handful of speculators for risking other peoples money, Bank Job shows how a community can come together to reimagine the economy to meets their own needs.

Andrew Simms, author, co-director of New Weather Institute, coordinator of Rapid Transition Alliance

They didnt just blow the bl**dy doors off: the whole van went up, and with it, the full sorry story of debt and its stranglehold on ordinary lives across the world. While countries and corporations wallow in the red, its a black day indeed for millions when the balance of payments tips against them. Now, Powell and Edelstyn, the Thelma and Louise of finance hacking, deliver a rock n roll history of where it all went wrong, and how it can start to go right. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for the cunning collaborative creativity of their project, but its not over yet. Much more action is needed, and Bank Job gives you all the tools to finish what they started. Right heres where we start paying in sweat! Keep the engine running, were going in.

Gareth Evans, producer, Patience after Sebald

HILARY POWELL & DANIEL EDELSTYN

Chelsea Green Publishing

White River Junction, Vermont

London, UK

Copyright 2020 by Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

Chapter opening images by Phil Seddon, Hilary Powell and Daniel Edelstyn.

Project Manager: Patricia Stone

Developmental Editor: Muna Reyal

Copy Editor: Susan Pegg

Proofreader: Deborah Heimann

Indexer: Nancy Crompton

Designer: Melissa Jacobson

Printed in Canada.

First printing September 2020.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 20 21 22 23 24

Our Commitment to Green Publishing

Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because it was printed on paper that contains recycled fiber, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Bank Job was printed on paper supplied by Marquis that is made of recycled materials and other controlled sources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Powell, Hilary, author. | Edelstyn, Daniel, 1976- author.

Title: Bank job / Hilary Powell & Daniel Edelstyn.

Description: White River Junction, Vermont : Chelsea Green Publishing, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020029942 (print) | LCCN 2020029943 (ebook) | ISBN 9781603589697 (paperback) | ISBN 9781603589703 (ebook) | ISBN 9781603589710 (audio)

Subjects: LCSH: DebtSocial aspectsGreat Britain. | Debt cancellationGreat Britain. | Art and societyGreat Britain. | Art and social actionGreat Britain. | Bank notesGreat Britain.

Classification: LCC HG3754.5.G7 .P69 2020 (print) | LCC HG3754.5.G7 (ebook) | DDC 332.70941--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020029942