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David Brancaccio

"Future Effects" Senior Correspondent

David Brancaccio is Marketplace’s “future effects” senior correspondent. In this role, David aims to explore how short-term thinking can impact our personal finances, innovation, government policy, and more.

David worked as the host and senior editor of “Marketplace Morning Report” from 2013 to 2026, where he focused on the regulation of financial markets, the role of technology in labor markets, the history of innovation, digital privacy, sustainability, social enterprises, and financial vulnerability in older adults. David freelanced for Marketplace in 1989 before becoming the program’s European correspondent based in London in 1990.

David hosted the evening program from 1993-2003, then anchored the award-winning public television news program “Now” on PBS after a period co-hosting with journalist Bill Moyers. David has co-produced and appeared in several documentaries, including “Fixing the Future,” about alternative approaches to the economy, and “On Thin Ice,” about climate change and water security, with mountaineer Conrad Anker. David is the author of “Squandering Aimlessly,” a book about personal values and money. He enjoys moderating public policy discussions, including at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Chicago Ideas Week, and the Camden Conference in Maine.

David is from Waterville, Maine, and has degrees from Wesleyan and Stanford universities. Honors include the Peabody, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University, Emmy, and Walter Cronkite awards. He is married to Mary Brancaccio, a poet and educator. They have three offspring, all adults. He likes making beer and building (and launching) pretty big rockets. Among his heroes are Edward R. Murrow and Wolfman Jack.

Latest from David Brancaccio

  • Who will pay the bill for these bank failures?
    Alex Wong/Getty Images

    Since the government takeover of the failed Silicon Valley and Signature banks, questions have been swirling about where the money is coming from to ensure depositors’ money. We look at the agencies involved and how costs may eventually be passed on to consumers, despite officials’ assurances to the contrary. Amid the SVB crisis, there’s also been a reckoning about the rules and oversight that govern small and medium-sized financial institutions. And, schools in parts of Maine are seeing an unexpected drop in funding because of higher property values in surrounding communities. 

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  • HSBC boss after SVB acquisition: You can bank on us
    Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: With global markets still reeling from the failure of Silicon Valley bank, we hear from the CEO of HSBC who bought the UK arm for £1 on Monday. BBC Beijing correspondent Stephen McDonnell reports from China where the doors to foreign visitors will open from next week. Plus, is there hidden Nazi gold in a Dutch town? The BBC’s Anna Holligan has been to find out.

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  • Biden: SVB deposits and banking system “safe”
    Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    President Biden, in remarks delivered Monday morning, said that the U.S. banking system is “safe” and that depositors at the failed Silicon Valley and Signature banks would have full access to their deposits. The president’s messaging comes amid a wider campaign by federal officials to tame potential panic over this weekend’s banking debacle, according to Marketplace’s Sabri Ben-Achour. And, we got in touch with economist Julia Coronado to discuss how higher interest rates — which have come after a sustained period of near-zero rates — could have contributed to the crisis. 

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  • Three days later, what’s come of the SVB takeover?
    Oliver Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

    Since the collapse — and subsequent government takeover — of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, the fallout on the wider financial system has led to a new federal lending program and the shutdown of Signature Bank. We talk with Karen Petrou, managing partner at Federal Financial Analytics, about what steps regulators have taken in the wake of the debacle — and what they may have missed in the leadup to the chaos. And, a word from the UK’s top financial official on HSBC’s acquisition of SVB’s operations in that country.

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  • Mar 13, 2023

    HSBC buys SVB UK

    HSBC buys SVB UK
    Matt Cardy/Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: After late night discussions SVB’s UK operation has been snapped up by HSBC, for one pound. Francis Coppola, an independent banking analyst explains what impact the failure of SVB has had in the UK. Plus, with Oscars handed out we look at the growth of the movie industry in Nigeria, which now produces more films every year than Hollywood.

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  • The jobs report is out, and it’s a hard one to parse
    Mario Tama/Getty Images

    The much-anticipated February jobs report is out, and it’s a harder one to dissect than last month’s — job gains exceeded expectations, but the unemployment rate ticked up. Christopher Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, gives us some insight. President Biden released his budget request yesterday, which could serve as a policy preview for a potential 2024 reelection campaign. And, we take a look at what big players in the energy industry are talking about at a big conference going on in Houston right now. 

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  • Haitham Al Ghais, right, secretary general of OPEC, speaks with Carlos Pascual of  S&P Global Commodity Insights during the CERAWeek conference.
    Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images

    Access to energy when it’s most needed seemed to be on everyone’s mind at CERAWeek in Houston, research fellow Andy Uhler says.

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  • Inside the obscure lives of modern railcar-riding wanderers
    Brandon Bell/Getty Images

    The image of a person jumping between railcars and transient living may evoke images of old 20th-century films like “The Outsiders,” but a subculture of modern rail riding is going strong today. We spoke with Danelle Morton, host of the new podcast “City of the Rails,” which delves into this unseen world. A look at why some bad news in the banking sector caused a stock selloff in that area. And, a preview of today’s much-anticipated jobs report. 

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  • French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak prior to the 36th Franco-British Summit at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France.
    Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Could the UK/France summit signal future post-Brexit cooperation on issues like immigration and trade? We talked to two business owners — one British and one French — about what they thought about the talks. The United Nations is trying to avert an environmental disaster off the coast of Yemen. And, The Banshees of Inisherin could win some Oscars this weekend — but who’s behind the stunning knitwear?

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  • Pensions could be the latest retro comeback story
    Pixabay

    The mythical retirement scheme that’s known as a pension — most of which went away in the last half-century — could be on its way back in, thanks to acute labor shortages in the economy. Chris Farrell, Marketplace’s senior economics contributor, takes us through how competition might inspire employers to resurrect pensions. As we wait for the big jobs report that’s due out tomorrow, we check in with Diane Swonk about what the markets are expecting. And, a look at consumer debt at a time when inflation and high spending are driving up borrowing all over the place. 

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David Brancaccio