Janet Yellen, who is poised to become secretary of the Treasury, will immediately have her work cut out for her. The U.S. economy is in a precarious state and Congress is consumed by partisan politics.

Ms. Yellen, however, is no stranger to crisis. She has already held the government’s other top economic jobs — including chairwoman of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, helping the country through the last major financial emergency.

Now, facing another steep challenge, we look at the measures she might take to get the economy humming again.




Guest: Jeanna Smialek, who covers the Federal Reserve and the economy for The New York Times.




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Background reading:

• Ms. Yellen became an economist when few women entered the discipline. She is now set to become the first female Treasury secretary and one of the few people ever to have wielded economic power from the White House, the Federal Reserve and the president’s cabinet.
• While she may have excelled at some big jobs in the past, this role may be her hardest yet.