When Alan Greenspan attended his first Washington Nationals baseball game at the start of this month, he received a hero’s welcome. Federal Reserve Security guards urged the Federal Reserve chairman to sit in an one of the air-conditioned executive suite but Mr Greenspan, a true baseball fan, chose opted for a seat in the stands in the heat of the Washington summer. The 79-year-old central banker, who for 18 years has presided over the setting of US interest rates, was cheered as he arrived. People seated nearby asked him to autograph their tickets. From further back there were shouts of “Go Alan!” and “Yeah, Alan, keep ’em low”.

The Fed chief is due to step down at the end of January, when his term on the central bank’s board of governors expires. As the baseball crowd’s reaction bears witness, suggests, he is the most widely known and indeed the most popular chairman during of the Fed’s 90-year history. At the end of this week, central bankers and top academic and market economists from around the world will gather for the Fed’s summer retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to give their verdict on the Greenspan era.