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Some of us (or at least one) are not financial-savvy and business articles like this make me brain-sore - would someone mind translating this into simple layman's language for a simple mind? TIA -

Here's a part of it: When the ecomony slows down, the gov't restimulates it by lowering interest rates, which encourages consumers and businesses to borrow and purchase more goods, but the gov't can't do that now because interest rates are near zero. You can't pay people to borrow money, so some other technique must be implemented.

When C's and B's are already highly in debt when the economy slows down, but can't borrow more money easily, because banks tighten up loan requirements, it exacerbates the problem. Higher unemployment and less C spending makes banks tighten up because they are less likely to be paid back during slowdowns. Round and round it goes.

The main point of the article is that there is too much debt already for the economy to be reflated, or restimulated by usual means, i.e. lowering interest rates, which may or may not be true. Nobody knows for sure, but it doesn't look good.

I'll give it a whirl.
First let me say, he did leave out over-taxation as part of the equation.
We went on a binge during the '90's, "Irrational overexuberance" I believe it was coined.
Wages were rising and instead of saving it, we 'invested' it.
Our 'investments' are down about 5 trillion according to article.
While wages were rising, home values were skyrocketing, as were taxes as percentage of income.
Now a 100K home costs 200K. This is where everybody gets screwed, OK you finance at 5%, BFD. You are paying 5% on a 100K paper profit for the bank. And paying RE taxes on a 200K value. (I'll get horse whipped for this paragraph, watch and see)
But I digress.
As more and more money is pulled from your pocket, you reach the tipping point he referenced, where your debt load exceeds your ability to repay it.
Throw in a foundering job market and the potential for real havoc exists.
Who knows what happens from here, hang on and enjoy the ride.

translating this into simple layman's language for a simple mind?

The American corporation and consumer is borrowing and spending money like a drunken sailor. The drunken sailor is about to fall off the pier. When he does it will be called The Great Depression of 200*.

Warning: I have been preaching gloom and doom for three years. While my "bad attitude" has saved me a ton of money by keeping me out of the stock market the "big one" still has not hit.

The good folks at Barrons are very smart. Pay attention, folks.

economic fundamentals are completely and totally out of whack. Our trade deficit is 4.5% of our GDP. This is 3 times higher than any other nation at any other time. Our corporations are just about selling seed-corn for revenue and they're still fixing to not be able to service their debts collectively. Our consumers are borrowing feverishly on the price of their frequently over-priced houses in order to make their expenses. Our government is fixing to borrow massively as well. We have what classical analyses of the stock market and the real estate market to be a large bubble that people are dependent upon to finance borrowing. A bubble, meaning that the stated value of the stocks and of the real estate is larger than what appears to be the value by other measures, so borrowing on this higher value can be problematic should the stated price correct. So, all fundamentals are ripe for catastrophic economic events that would result in depression difficult to reverse. However, the federal reserve is very powerful and works world-wide with a clique of banks and governments. They will shelter us from these problems by making the bubbles bigger, by deception, by thievery, by currency manipulations and by whatever means. Optimistically, we'll just have continued slow erosion of the real standard of living for the majority of our people, but no sudden disruption, because our leaders will shelter us from the worst possible consequences of their folly.

But we've had some bad fundamental economic policies for a long time that are doing a lot of damage. The chinese yuan should float relative to the dollar if we're going to trade with them on this scale, and yet it is fixed artificially low. Not only that the US dollar is over-priced inherently because of its unique role as international trading currency. The chinese refuse to buy american food. So, the end result of all this is market forces shut down production inside of the US, but we are still enabled to borrow.

The clique in charge wants the US dollar to be the super-currency. This is good for the top 15-20% of americans in that they can buy anything they want with valuable US dollars. But in time this harms the rest of americans who work in job market that involves competition with those who produce in foreign countries. Economic catastrophe usually doesn't matter to anyone until it happens, then it matters to everyone.

America should not only require chinese yuan to float freely. It should also develop a new currency. The US should use a domestic US dollar for internal use and let the existing US dollar be used by anyone who wants to use it. If this domestic currency floats, then it will decline in value relative to the current US dollar. This would be good for american producers. In the long run we can't finance social security, medicaire and much else unless we have good production in the domestic economy. with our currency being artificially high, with the yuan being held low, we are going to gut production inside of the US.

I think it would be better to have the disruptions and clear out the ruling clique and start over. But, sadly, the ruling clique is very good at crisis control.

Simple explanation...."We the People"...knowingly or unknowingly, gave away our right to control our own destiny in 1913 with the FEDERAL RESERVE ACT....The Founding Fathers understood money and its impotance to a free society...hence we were given ARTICLE 1 SEC 8 of the Constitution....Jefferson said..."A private central bank issueing the PUBLIC currency, is a greater menace to the liberties of the people than a standing army!"....IMHO...intill the American people truly understand the simple concept of "money" as the Founding Fathers did ..we are just Democrats and Rebublicans trapped in the same pot of warm water...argueing over the proper tempature ...when neither of us realize "WE the People" have no control over the heat!!

Okay. Here is the redacted version:

*Past deflations in the US and abroad occured
when debt service became unmanageable due to
exogenous shocks to the world economy,

*Gross debt ratios are starting to become problematic
in the US based upon historical norms,

*The Chinese are causing a deflationary wave by
dumping goods in the world market using their
undervalued currency,

*The Fed has, until recently, been less than alert
to the deflationary threat.

The real culprit here was missed by the analsysts, in my view. Mercantilist trade policies pursued by any number of countries has led to a chronic oversupply in a number of industries. The businesses in these industries (steel, autos, textiles, consumer electronics) find it hard to make money because are mired in suicidal price wars.

Some of us (or at least one) are not financial-savvy and business articles like this make me brain-sore - would someone mind translating this into simple layman's language for a simple mind? TIA -

Time to stash some cash under the mattress.