the general R E formalism, s e e Ref. 5, where the second-order scalar-particle self-energy with an a r b i t r a r y value of i s also evaluated. his problem has been investigated, with the u s e of conventional formalism for the vector field, by This paper is concerned with the infrared structure of Johnson-Baker-Willey finite quantum electrodynamics. In this theory the insertion of T q , the composite mass operator, into the electron propagator satisfies a homogeneous Bethe-Salpeter equation whose solution is conformally invariant at short distances with an anomalous dimension, y~* ( a )To determine whether the theory is forced to actually choose a nontrivial solution to this homogeneous equation we calculate the effective potential, v ( ( T q ) ) , using the dressed scalar vertex as input. We find that the infrared divergences of the theory cause the effective potential to develop a degenerate minimum away from the origin in classical field space. Thus dynamical y S symmetry breaking takes place with the electron acquiring a mass m -(Tq). It is thought that this may be a general mechanism for generating masses in an otherwise conformal-invariant theory.