Chapter 7 develops the idea that there are sufficient existing pro-public public banking functions (and resources) to synthesise what a democratised green & just public bank can and should look like. It does so to illustrate how public banks can be made to function in pro-public green & just ways otherwise impossible under the short-term, high-return regime of corporatised and private financiers. The proposal revolves around pursuing a Triple Bottom Line, or mandate, aimed at (1) a green & just transition, (2) financial sustainability, and (3) democratic decision-making.

The Introduction situates contemporary public banks as socially contested and institutionally dynamic financial institutions. It presents the book's core argument that public banks are resurgent not by virtue of being publicly owned but because of the institutional functions they have acquired over time and can perform within class-divided society. These functions are not neutral within global financialised capitalism but are pulled between private and public interests. This leaves open the possibility for pro-public, green & just orientations. The chapter provides the book's methodology, rationale, and overview of the book’s structure.