Janet Yellen has plotted a steady course for the US economy as the crisis-era stimulus begins unwinding.

So well telegraphed was the plan to pare back the treasuries and mortgage-backed securities piled high on the Federal Reserve’s $4.5trillion balance sheet that the dollar barely flickered higher in recognition when it was confirmed.

At the same time, the likelihood of a further interest rate rise in December suggests the US is well on its way back to normal and that artificially lowered borrowing costs are no longer required.

Yellen has focused on rampant job growth as her guide, anticipating that a scarcity of workers will drive up sluggish inflation.

This withdrawal is made easier while the European Central Bank keeps buying bonds, although the strong euro is causing headaches for exporters.

Cool hand: Janet Yellen's stint as the world’s most powerful central banker is likely to end in February

But the global retreat from quantitative easing is a bit like exiting the European Union – theoretically possible, except no one has managed it yet.

What is clear is that the end of cheap money threatens to expose stocks with frothy valuations and bubbles in property and credit. Yellen demurs, claiming over the summer that this process, which will run into the next decade, should be as exciting as watching paint dry.

That might be the case, if only Yellen remained in charge to see it through. Her stint as the world’s most powerful central banker is likely to end in February when President Trump installs his own choice. Wise heads such as Fed deputy Stanley Fischer are already heading for the exit.

The new chairman will be someone keener than Yellen on rolling back banking regulation that was designed to stop lenders from toppling over again.

Who that will be is anyone’s guess, especially as Goldman Sachs alumnus Gary Cohn appears to be out of the running.

It seems a long time since business leaders rejoiced at having one of their own in the White House. Given the choice, the average chief executive seeking some economic certainty would reappoint Yellen.

Trump, however, was never an average chief executive.

Auditing the future

PWC executives admitted no great surprise during a round table yesterday that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) had failed to find fault with accountant KPMG’s 2007 audit of HBOS.

They will no doubt be hoping for a similar outcome when the FRC gets around to declaring a verdict on their own audit of retailer BHS. So far, that probe has been running a mere 15 months.

Kevin Ellis, PwC’s senior partner, points out that thousands of audits are completed without issue every year. He fears that talking down the industry’s effectiveness because of a handful of incidents will damage the UK’s competitive edge.

If that really is at stake, the bean-counters should move to reform themselves.

We hear plenty about what the audits of the future may entail and how artificial intelligence could do away with a lot of the grunt work. But there appears to be little debate about what the scope of an audit should be.

Given what has gone before, why, for example, does taking a view on a bank’s risk-weighted assets and liquidity not form part of the equation?

And then there is the regulator. The FRC’s review of its sanctions this autumn could usher in bigger fines. That will scare no one unless it gets better at rooting out failure.

Brand protection

Co-op shoppers can throw their membership cards in the air with joy now it has withdrawn from banking by selling its remaining stake in Co-op Bank.

Former boss Peter Marks’ merger with the Britannia Building Society was meant to create a trusted new champion.

Instead, it drove the movement into a deep financial crisis and forced it to sell prime farmland and its pharmacy chain in a bid to recover.

Given it was dragged through the mud so recently, you would think Co-op would be more exercised about blocking the investors who now own the bank outright from trading under its name.

It is naive to think this club of vulture funds will channel the founding Rochdale Pioneers’ brand of caring capitalism.