currently a professor of political economy and public policy at the carnegie mellon university's tepper school of business in pittsburgh, pa., served as a member of the president's economic policy advisory board, an active member of the president's council of economic advisers, and a consultant to the u.s. treasury department, and on the board of governors of the federal reserve system. he served as the chairman of the international finance institutions advisory committee formed by congress to review the role of the international monetary fund, the world bank, and other world financial institutions. he is the author of numerous books on economic theory and policy, including a multi-volume history on the federal reserve. dr. meltzer received his b.a. from duke and his ph.d. in economics from the university of california los angeles. next we will be hearing from mr. chris edwards, currently the director of tax policy studies at the cato institute, editor of the cato website. before he began his work at kato, he was a senior economist for the joint economic committee, as well as an economi