Where Did the Banks Go

No banks. No mortgages. No stock markets. But people still need homes, new factories, and protection when disaster strikes. What replaces the financial industry? Based on Peter Schmidt’s Human AI Civilization books, this explainer explores how a mature human–AI society could reorganize the functions of finance around physical resources, shared infrastructure, and accountable civic decisions. Three practical scenarios—a home, a factory, and a flood—show how the model approaches: • Banking and credit: capacity credits account for energy, materials, logistics, and machine time instead of speculative purchasing power. • Investment: new projects compete through public proposals, feasibility assessments, and civic decisions rather than promised financial returns. • Insurance: emergency reserves, resilient infrastructure, and cooperation between cities provide recovery capacity rather than financial payouts. • Markets and ownership: shared productive assets and open knowledge replace tradable ownership claims as the basis of industrial coordination. • Performance and accountability: the Resource-Based Performance Index (RBPI) evaluates ecological balance, health, usefulness, resilience, and long-term development. Repair obligations address damage in physical terms. The institutions change, but the responsibilities remain: allocating scarce resources, managing uncertainty, and planning for the future. This is a speculative institutional model—not an established system, financial advice, or a proposal to abolish existing institutions overnight. The video also acknowledges the unresolved challenge of transitioning from today’s financial system. CHAPTERS 00:00 A civilization beyond traditional finance? 01:11 Banks, money, and capacity credits 02:28 Investment without investors 03:59 Insurance without insurance companies 05:10 Markets, funds, and shared assets 05:57 The unresolved transition challenge 06:30 Measuring performance beyond profit 07:48 Repair obligations and accountability 08:16 What changes—and what remains? What would you need to trust before replacing financial security with guaranteed access and shared resource stewardship? Share your thoughts below. ABOUT THE BOOKS Based on concepts and original writings by Peter Schmidt in The Human AI Civilization books. Peter Schmidt is the author and benefits financially from their sales. AI DISCLOSURE Created with assistance from Google NotebookLM, including AI-generated narration and visuals. AI-generated material may contain inaccuracies. Subscribe for more explorations of the Human AI Civilization. #HumanAICivilization #FutureEconomy #ResourceBasedEconomy