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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

  • Let the post-holiday gift returns begin
    Getty Images

    Now that the holidays are over, many people are going to be returning gifts and other items that didn’t quite fit the bill. But for many online retailers, accepting and processing returns is costly and undercuts profits. We take a look at what makes the process so expensive. Plus, Twitter is reversing course on its policy of disallowing political advertising. And, we ask Chris Farrell what the pandemic may have taught employers about supporting workers’ mental health.

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  • Health improvements can lead to economic improvements.
    iStock via Getty Images Plus

    “You can’t have a healthy economy without a healthy population,” says Marketplace’s senior economics contributor.

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  • A market in Karachi, Pakistan.
    ASIF HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Pakistan’s economy appears to be teetering on the brink. Inflation is at almost 25%, its debts continue to spiral and the country is running out of foreign currency. Now the government has taken drastic measures to try and save cash. Markets, shops, wedding halls and restaurants will have to close early every evening to conserve energy. We get the view from business. Plus, there’s been more disruption in Bolivia’s economic heartland. And, women’s cricket in India is coming of age with pay parity and lucrative commercial deals.

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  • Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

    Southwest is trying to put this holiday’s flight cancellation disaster behind it, but it may be facing a new obstacle: legal trouble. A passenger is suing over the compensation provided by the airline. We delve into the lawsuit and what it could mean for the beleaguered carrier. And, a look at why Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges are opening themselves to inspection by U.S. regulators.

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  • Employers are raising wages, but inflation’s still biting
    Spencer Platt via Getty Images

    New reports from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta found that employers are continuing to raise wages in a tight labor market. Inflation, however, is complicating matters. Also, a look at why the frequency of corporate dealmaking — which includes IPOs and mergers — slowed in 2022. And, we sat down with Dina Temple-Raston, host of the podcast “Click Here,” to talk about the rise of ransomware and malware attacks last year. 

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  • Ransomware attacks jumped in 2022. Criminal hackers made more money, started renting out malware and often targeted schools.
    Getty Images

    What’s driving the increase in ransomware attacks.

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  • General Electric divides itself. Again.
    SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images

    General Electric, one of the nation’s most recognizable industrial firms, is spinning off its health care business into a separate company. We delve into the latest move by the ailing conglomerate, which has spun off multiple businesses since the Great Recession. Also, we sat down with both the CEO and the president of Charge Enterprises, a company that’s one of the players in the growing electric vehicle charging industry.

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  • How one company is energizing the growing EV charging industry
    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    Charge Enterprises execs say EV charging infrastructure will require a multidecade, trillion-dollar investment to fully replace gasoline and diesel.

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  • A woman receives a COVID vaccine jab in Shanghai after China's government began pivoting away from its zero-COVID policy.
    Charles Zhang/Marketplace

    From the BBC World Service: China reacts furiously as countries around the world impose testing for its travellers. Morocco has become the first country to impose a full ban on all those arriving from China, whatever their nationality. Meanwhile, we hear from a migrant rescue ship in the Mediterranean after Italy introduced new rules designed to cut the number of arrivals. Plus, the Irish Prime Minister says mistakes were made on all sides over the U.K.’s exit from the European Union.

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  • For one thing, inflation started to moderate in the last few months of 2022. Will that continue in the new year?
    David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

    Eh, not so fast. Sure, we got a couple months’ worth of positive inflation data at the end of 2022, some moderation in certain prices. But the Federal Reserve’s New Year’s resolution boils down to “keep fighting rising prices in 2023,” and there’s still uncertainty about our economic future. Julia Coronado of MacroPolicy Perspectives joins us to take stock of where things stand at the start of the year. Plus, why the value of the U.S. dollar has declined in recent months despite a strong rest of 2022. And, food banks struggle with increased need and fewer donations.

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