dr. gail brait, i tend to agree with you about the constitutionality of the appointments to the federal reserve board. we obviously have a different opinion about what we should be doing, monetary policy and the federal reserve. but where does this authority come -- constitutional authority since you dreaddressed the constitution, the creation of a fiat monetary system. where does that authority come from exactly? >> i believe, mr. chairman, and i would be cautious about tangling with you on this, but the authority for the federal reserve act simply comes from the authority given to congress to coin money, regulate the value thereof. and, well, the federal reserve act, of course, has been functional piece of american law for over a century now. it would be a surprise to me if it were per se unconstitutional on that ground. >> of course, if there's a prohibition to the constitution you can't change the constitution by the federal reserve act. but dr. rivlin, i think the removal of the report on m-3 came after i think you left the fed, i'm not sure, but why was that dropped? i mean, what would it

dr. gail brait for his opening statement. >> chairman paul, ranking member clay. it's an honor to be here especially given that i am a former member of the staff of this committee and that i served on the team that drafted the humphrey hawkins full employment and balanced growth act. i wish to speak in support of the mandate. that law was drafted at a time of acute eratical conflict on economics and on the staff, i was a young liberal. one of our colleagues james pierce, two other