$1.1 Trillion | Michael Casson | TEDxDover

Dr. Michael Casson discusses the circulation of money in the Black community relative to other communities.

Dr. Michael Casson is a professor at Delaware State University.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Hello everyone.

So you wouldn't believe it if I told
you that we spent $1.1 trillion.

And the only thing worse
than spending that $1.1 trillion

is that no one seems to be bothered
by the fact that in less than six hours,

that money was no longer ours.

Those dollars have left
our community, never to return.

With nothing to show for it
but unemployment trends.

Maybe if we were a little bit more astute
about the impact that $1.1 trillion

has on our community,

we would've realized
that our choice to divest,

our choice to divest,
is not without impunity.

Well how bad can it be, right?
What can $1.1 trillion really buy?

Well, let's start
with 50 million scholarships

to attend your college of choice.

Or 900,000 community centers
to help facilitate our collective voice.

1.4 million Charter Schools
could start an educational revolution.

Especially when you couple that
with academic pathways

to 3,000 predominantly white institutions.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't include
entertainment on my spending tour.

No more nosebleed seats.
I'm on the floor ...

(Laughter)

of the 500 NBA teams
that we have decided to acquire,

and to broadcast the games,
we bought CBS, NBC, and ESPN

with $1 trillion left over
for our desires.

So you tell me, who is to blame
for our unemployment rate?

How many jobs can
$1.1 trillion truly create?

Well let's try 12 million jobs
through direct impact

and another 4 million jobs
through induced feedback.

You see, this is what happens when
we decide to invest back in our community.

So maybe we can take a page
from other cultures' economic unity.

Right, consider 30, 20, and 17 days

that $1 circulates in the Asian, Jewish,
and White communities respectively.

You know, I always say the truth
is crazier than the lie.

Some of this stuff I just can't make up.

So recall what I told you,
that less than six hours of circulation

is all the African American
dollar could muster up.

Imagine that. $1.1 trillion.

Gone with the wind. Fabulous!

(Laughter)

Spent on iPhones, the latest fashions,

and other random acts
of depreciable luxuriousness.

But only if we had
access to capital, right?

We could open up our companies,

we could patronize
our businesses overnight.

Well, there's 21 African American
owned banks for us to consider.

Unfortunately, however they're faced
with a lot of challenges -

essentially facing closed doors -

as evidenced by the previous total of 54.

Now, the remaining
21 African American owned banks

have assets totaling $4.7 billion.

Seemingly respectable
until you compare it to the $1.1 trillion.

Now I know some of you math people
in here are already doing the math, right?

$4.7 billion equates to simply only

less than 1/2 of 1% of the $1.1 trillion

in African American buying power.

If I didn't know any better, I would
say the blame is partly ours.

So finally, I'm going to end with this -
I have more questions than solutions,

thereby leaving the door open
for an economic revolution.

Thank you.

(Applause)