Month: November 2019

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“ED” Talks for Credit Unions: Cooperative Ideas Worth Spreading

TED talks are a relatively new learning paradigm. Not only have these presentations expanded in both depth and breadth, but they have even become the curriculum for educational courses.

As described on their home page, TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where technology, entertainment and design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages.

Its mission is simple: to spread ideas. “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. On TED.com, we’re building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world’s most inspired thinkers — and a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.”

ED Talks: a Clearing House for Cooperative Thinkers

I believe there is a parallel opportunity for such a resource in the credit union cooperative community. We have both a wealth of current leaders and historical examples that can be shared to educate and inspire change similar to the TED exchanges.

An “ED” Talk: Choice and Credit Union Success

In June 1986, the savings and loan crisis was beginning to emerge into a full blown industry debacle. Among the first causalities were the private insurance options available in several states (Ohio, Rhode Island) for mutual S&Ls. The closing of these funds led to concerns about the multiple private insurance options for credit unions.

In this environment of fear, Ed Callahan spoke to the summer leadership conference of the Association of Credit Union League Executives (ACULE).

He asserted that the five years of unparalleled success since deregulation proved credit unions had created the best financial system in the country. But there was a threat.

The industry’s success was based on choices. That vital characteristic was being undermined by “panic” and a failure of leadership.

Listen to this two-minute excerpt in which he makes the case with passion and logic for why choice is central to cooperative performance.

Best System:

The Insight for Today

Throughout credit union history there have been efforts to create single source solutions. Examples include state leagues, a one-stop option for required fidelity bonds, and a dominant service bureau data processing company (CUNADATA). It is easy to confuse a single, uniform solution as the best way to achieve cooperative system.

Ed states the years of success years after deregulation enhanced choice by opening up options that are now threatened by a monopoly share insurer.

His concern about no choice of a share insurer except the NCUSIF, is certainly as critical today as 35 years ago. For if this logic continues to prevail in credit union land and beyond, a potential next easy move is to have just one federal insurer called the FDIC.

While his example was share insurance, the message would be the same for all areas of credit union solutions. For choice to be sustained, leaders will have to be willing to support options even when their own organizations may not have chosen that path.

P.s. If you have an idea to share for your own “ED” talk, please send it to me at chipfilson.com.

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Political Polarization and NCUA Chairman Hood’s White House Video

Recently the White House posted a video of NCUA Chairman Hood praising President Trump’s economic program for benefiting African-Americans.

The video link and some of the subsequent twitter comments were reported by CUToday.

Stepping Into a Politically Divided DC and Country

The decades long trend toward more political polarization in both voter’s views and in Congressional debate and actions (or inactions) is not new. This approach to politics is a key factor of President Trump’s leadership style.

So it was not surprising that democratic Senator Sherrod Brown should question Hood’s video message in a letter seeking more information about the event.

The letter raises the issue of the wisdom of the Chair of an independent regulatory agency making such an overt political statement. No banking regulators, the FDIC chair, the OCC or the Chair of the Federal Reserve have made such endorsements. In fact Fed Chairman Powell, has repeatedly stressed the Fed’s and his independence. President Trump has responded by attacking the Chair’s policy priorities.

Past Behavior and Current Context

In the book It’s Even Worse Than It Looks, the authors Mann and Ornstein provide the history of the collision of American Constitutional practice and what they call the NEW political extremism. In Chapter 2, titled “The Seeds of Dysfunction”, the authors chronicle the impact of Newt Gingrich’s role on the political culture of Congress.

The following is an example of Gingrich and his team’s use of CSpan media to communicate their view of the “fat and pork laden” House:

A group of Gingrich allies calling themselves the “Gang of Seven” seized on the (House) bank scandal to take Gingrich’s confrontational tactics to new levels. Its ring leaders were Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania; John Boehner of Ohio, then only in his second year as a member; and Jim Nussle of Iowa. Their most memorable moment came when Nussle put a brown paper bag over his head while on the house floor, proclaiming that he was ashamed to be a member of Congress. . .  Gingrich’s goal of causing voters to feel enough disgust at the entire Congress that they would throw out the majority was within reach; he attained it a little more than two years later.

Today Jim Nussle is President of CUNA. So partisan tactics can be effective, or do they generate a counterforce that defeats its practitioner’s goals?

Credit unions have tried to forge a bipartisan appeal in Washington, even as prior Chairs have been politicians or supporters from one party or the other. The issue is not one of party affiliation. Rather how does the leader of an independent agency best represent the interests of credit unions in Washington? Will becoming an overt partisan help or undermine support for the cooperative financial option in Congress and with credit unions throughout the country? Is Nussel’s past behavior and current responsibility a positive or a cautionary example for how credit unions should navigate the ever increasing turbulent political currents of our time?

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Catching Up with Leonardo

This year marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci. To mark this event a new exhibition of the artist’s works has opened at the Louvre in Paris, France.

Many of the artist’s most important drawings and sketches are in the show, except one. As reported in the Washington Post’s review:

“Only one major episode of Leonardo’s life isn’t covered in depth: the story of the enormous bronze equestrian statue made for his patron Ludovico Sforza, the clay model of which was supposedly blown apart by French soldiers after they stormed Milan in 1499.”

Grand Rapids, Michigan and Leonardo da Vinci

Few can travel to Paris to see this exhibit. However, Americans do have the opportunity to see the “one major episode” not in the exhibit.

Leonardo’s horse, constructed from his drawings, now stands in the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The story of how the largest sculpture ever envisioned in Europe came to this location is told in my blog:

Leonardo’s Horse: A Vision Outlasting Its Creator