America has been enjoying its longest ever economic growth spurt.

Markets have been hitting record highs as the country's jobs boom continued for the

hundredth month in a row.

But the rules of the world economy are changing.

The link between lower unemployment and higher inflation seems to have gone missing and

markets are getting nervous.

On Tuesday, America's centre for disease control warned that the new coronavirus will

almost certainly spread around the country, sending federal governments and investors

into a spin.

In an age of ultra low interest rates and near trillion dollar budget deficits,

the central banks have the tools to deal with economic shocks.

You're listening to the economist asks, I'm Anne McElvoy and this week we're asking,

how do you manage the world's biggest economy?

My guest is Janet Yellen, chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, the first woman

to hold that role in the Fed's 105 year history.

She's now a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Janet Yellen, welcome to the economist asks, hello nice to be with you.

And also with me in the studio is our economics editor Henry Kerr.

So Dr Yellen it's two years since you stepped down, that's right.

What is it like to be the most powerful person in global finance?

Well, things are always changing and we're always trying to figure out just where the

economy is and where it's heading but have to look at unfolding developments very carefully

...