Author: John Mason

Well, we have suffered through one year of the new financial reform act passed in 2010.“Some critics of the law contend that it skimped on the details, leaving regulatory agencies with too heavy a burden” having to write up the...

Over the past year, I have spent a lot of time discussing the problems created by falling house prices and the effect this has on debt levels and personal solvency. Falling house prices have placed many owners in the...

This economic expansion is now in its twenty-fourth month.  It is one of the weakest expansions on record.  And, it seems to be going nowhere. One reason for this is that there is just too much debt still outstanding in the...

The Wall Street Journalcarries the story, “Sales of Small Firms Are Up”. (http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303406104576444062140022104.html?mod=ITP_marketplace_4&mg=reno-secaucus-wsj)  “Sales of...

The world never stands still.  It is either moving one way…or moving in another way.  In terms of the macro-economy, the world is either experiencing a credit inflation…or a debt deflation.  For the past fifty years or so the...

Yesterday in my post I reviewed the consequences of QE2 on the Federal Reserve balance sheet. (http://seekingalpha.com/article/276674-qe2-watch-no-qe3-in-sight)The bottom line: “The ‘net’ increase in securities held outright by...

I usually do the “QE2 Watch” post in the first week of the new month, but in this coming month I will be a little tied up.  I am having hip replacement surgery on June 28 and will be a little preoccupied for a few days.  I will...

Over the past year or so, I have been arguing that the substantial build up in the cash balances of many large United States corporations has been for the purpose of merger and acquisition activity.   And, earlier this year,...