Lets hear it. [applause] hello everyone how are you ladies and gentlemen we are gathered here in this great sovereign state to talk about the faith of the countrys banks, the Federal Reserve. We hope to discover whether the Federal Reserve kept its promise to provide a healthy economy system, full employment, stable and a lender of last resort or is it responsible for the series of the banking crisis and loss of purchasing power of the inflation in average citizen is this economy more stable or is it less stable because of the existence and did and did the fed exacerbate the crisis of 2008 or keep it from getting worse . Are we better off without the fed and if so what shall we replace it with, shall we go back to the classical standard of gold, and can i have been a plus for the classical Gold Standard . [applause] we hope to find out the answers to this most important issue and representing the defense today professor is the cofounder and coeditor of the american prospect magazine an