When then-Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson and Federal Chairman Ben Bernanke met with Congressional leadership on Sept. 18, 2008, he warned that if immediate action was not taken, “[The United States] might not have an economy on Monday.”

In response to the turn of events, Sen. John McCain famously declared the economy sound. Then-Sen. Obama claimed it wasn’t. The public, and the economy, clearly agreed with the latter evaluation. Numerous bailouts and a whole lot of stimulus spending later, our recession seems to be shakily retreating, despite dismal job numbers and a negligibly improved consumer confidence.

Nearly two years after that fateful September meeting, in a most telling fashion more befitting American politics, no one is still entirely sure what exactly happened. As the details trickle in, however — and though we may never finish the puzzle — it has become clear that the reckless greed of Wall Street banks is largely to blame. Fault also lies with Americans who purchased homes they had no business buying and with an exceptionalist culture that preached ever-more leverage and living beyond available means.

Now that pieces are falling into place, people are realizing that the investment banking’s slice of the pie chart might perhaps be the largest. And as the once-lauded Obama administration has proven yet incapable of reprimanding and reforming said firms, American citizens are taking matters into their own hands.

In late 2009, an online organization calling itself “Move Your Money” spearheaded a campaign to persuade Americans to transfer their funds from large financial institutions, such as Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, to local community banks.

Since the financial crisis began, according to a Zogby poll, almost one in 10 American adults has moved her or his money from a large bank to a closer, more personal one. As citizens of Iowa City, we are blessed with a plethora of options available when it comes to local financial institutions. These include Hills Bank and Trust, the University of Iowa Community Credit Union, MidwestOne, West Bank Iowa, and Liberty Bank.

Though it may seem a waste of time and an inconvenience to transfer your funds to a local bank, consider this: If you know someone who lost her or his to job to the recession, or if your retirement savings took a major hit, or if the funds that you had set aside to pay for college shrank drastically in size, or if you have ever wrung your hands in frustration at the latest jobs report, Wall Street shenanigans, or the sheer magnitude of the bank bailouts, and wished there was something you could do — well, now there is.

The greatest benefit of more people moving their money away from the banks largely responsible for this economic mess is that they will be less capable of wreaking such havoc in the future. As hackneyed and cliché as this advice has become, Gandhi’s immortal axiom, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” is abundantly applicable in this instance.

Not only does the possibility of a more secure economy exist, we are capable of shaping that future from Main Street on up. We petition you to reconsider continuing to bank with large, national institutions; instead, you can do your part in strengthening our community and securing our economy by visiting moveyourmoney.info for helpful advice and tips for doing just that.

As a board, our experiences with local financial institutions have been overwhelmingly positive. Because we can’t all rely on trillion-dollar bailouts, and given the more pressing issues Obama and Federal Reserve are currently tackling, there’s no guarantee that if — or when — the next recession hits, it won’t take more large banks (and personal retirement funds) down with it. We hope you will invest the time and effort to localize your savings.