*  *  *  It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you today. Certainly, the theme for today's session--"North American Monetary Policy"--ought to provoke some lively discussion. Let me start with the usual disclaimer--my remarks reflect my personal views and should not be taken as an official view of the Board of Governors or the Federal Reserve System.
As you know, the FOMC last week chose to lower the target federal funds rate 50 basis points to a forty-year low of 1-1/4 percent and also indicated that it viewed the risks to the economy going forward as balanced.