please join me in welcoming roger lowenstein. [applause] >> debra, thanks very much. a wonderful introduction. i am glad i don't have to talk about dinosaurs. i don't know much about that. what i'm going to do is mostly talk to you and read you passages as well that i mope high pressure c hope conveys the drama of the story. this was my first history story. it was the most exciting project i have been in. the people i wrote about reminded me of people on the scene and the book is full of stories. last night, anyone who saw the republican debate, you saw rand paul came out against the federal reserve and tasaid ther is no point in having a federal reserve. tonight i would like to tell you what it was like when he had a system like that back a hundred years ago. but before i get to that i want to start with what is the federal reserve and why we have it today. if you think about an ordinary bank they serve two functions. for people that don't have enough money they can barrow and for people that have money they can go park it and earn interest. but they serve a larger f