host: here is williamstown, mass. on our democrats line. caller: the fed has had more regulatory power than any financial regulatory institution in history, yet we got into this horrible crisis. although some of the problems were outside the banking system which the fed did not control, many were inside. so part of the crisis represents a great failure of the way that we regulate banks and of the federal reserve's role. isn't it strange to have the solution to give the fed a few more powers? does that really seemed appropriate? might we not need a different approach? guest: the caller hits on the hot-button issue. you have a lot of folks in congress saying, hang on a second. the fed had a lot of power. now you are trying to expand. yet the system had collapsed. why should the fed be given more? host: we asked our previous guest about that. how do you close the barn door? guest: the biggest thing you will see, there is a provision in the federal reserve act. it is what allowed chairman ben bernanke under exigent circumstances to open the len