Author: John Mason

The papers and the news broadcasts over the last week have been filled with stories about the failure of Lehman Brothers and the need to re-regulate the financial system. The second-guessing has been enormous on the failure of...

This headline is the headline of an article I would recommend everyone read about the financial crisis. This article, by Floyd Norris, can be found in the Friday morning New York Times (see...

The commercial banking system is still holding onto cash rather than lending or investing. Over the thirteen weeks ending August 26, 2009 the assets of the banking system dropped by $246 billion, but the cash assets of the...

At first I was not going to comment on the re-appointment of Ben Bernanke to the position of Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. I thought I had had my say. See my post “Exit Strategy: An...

There are three major factors that will contribute to the timing and the strength of the economic recovery. First, there is the ability and speed at which individuals and businesses are able to get their balance sheets in order...

There is great concern about the “Exit Strategy” the Federal Reserve might follow to reduce its balance sheet back to the levels that existed before the “Big Explosion” in the Fall of 2008. I plan to keep...

Is the recession over? Has the economic recovery begun? Will there be a double-dip recession?The picture is fuzzy and one reason the picture is fuzzy is because so many banks and other financial institutions, investors, and...

On Friday, bank failures for the year reached 77. In January or March of this year people started projecting that we may make 100 by the end of the year. I think that is as sure a bet as you can get these days. Now, we are...

There are two numbers I can’t get out of my head. The numbers are $1.84 trillion and $1.26 trillion. These are estimates of what the deficit of the United States government is going to be for the fiscal year ending in...