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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

  • Signs promoting bitcoin transactions are seen in a small shop in El Zonte beach, El Salvador, on of the places where the use of bitcoin has been most promoted, on August 27, 2022. - The prolonged fall in its value worries them and, although less enthusiastic than at the beginning, users are confident of a recovery. Bitcoin celebrates one year as legal tender in El Salvador, with some unfinished plans. (Photo by MARVIN RECINOS / AFP) (Photo by MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images)

    From the BBC World Service: In the second of our week-long crypto series, Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister for digital transformation, tells us how Ukraine’s using crypto to boost supplies. In many parts of the developing world, cryptocurrencies are becoming a tool for people to move money more freely – we hear from a dedicated bitcoin education center in Ghana. Then, we look at a El Salvador, which has adopted bitcoin as legal tender and how it’s coping with such a volatile market. 

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  • China’s strict COVID policy is nearly down to zero
    JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images

    China correspondent Jennifer Pak discusses the country’s pending reopening. Julia Coronado of MacroPolicy Perspectives checks in regarding the markets for the holidays, especially when it comes to consumers. There’s an increased demand for medication as COVID and other viruses emerge.

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  • The skies haven’t gotten any friendlier for holiday travel
    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Flight cancellations and delays abound as the new year approaches, and it’s been especially rough for Southwest Airlines. Europe’s focus on green energy has had to take a temporary back seat to coal because of the war in Ukraine. A prison unit in Indiana aids incarcerated moms.

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  • This photo taken on June 18, 2022 shows inbound passengers waiting to be taken to quarantine-designated destinations from the Beijing International Airport in Beijing. (Photo by Leo RAMIREZ / AFP) (Photo by LEO RAMIREZ/AFP via Getty Images)

    From the BBC World Service: China will effectively re-open on Jan. 8 after three years of closed borders – but the country’s economy has taken a battering, with nearly one in five young people out of work. The E.U. rolls out its “single charger” law, which means all electronics manufacturers will have to use a standard USB port charger. Plus, we begin our week-long series on cryptocurrencies, starting off by talking to the investors themselves.

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  • If you want a job, keep your friends close but your acquaintances closer
    Getty Images

    That’s the message of a social science theory developed in the 1970s. It puts a different spin on networking, and has gotten a boost from new research. We look back at a summer piece from the BBC’s Victoria Craig, which educated us about royal warrants and took us on a shopping trip.

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  • Why inflated eggs were a part of your Christmas baking
    Brandon Bell/Getty Images

    The price of eggs has spiked, and we get into some of the reasons why. Also, our very own Andy Uhler joins us for a year-end wrap on energy.

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  • People shop on a busy market street Istanbul, Turkey where the inflation rate topped 85.5% in October, the highest level in 25 years.
    Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Today we look back at some of the stories we’ve covered this year, from economic pressures in Greece and Turkey to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. It was a period in which war in Ukraine and post-COVID supply chain problems caused rising inflation around the world. Turkey was already grappling with higher prices, so we traveled to the country to get a sense of the impact on household budgets.

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  • Let’s talk pantomime. It’s probably not what you’re thinking.
    Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images

    First, lawmakers are closing on the passage of a big government funding bill. In Europe, Airbnb has been ordered to offer up some information to tax authorities. Also, there’s a host of reasons why air travel is still a very difficult undertaking. Finally, the BBC explores the Christmas tradition of “pantomimes,” but they aren’t what you might be expecting.

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  • Consumer Reports CEO Marta Tellado cautions that consumer protections have not kept up in areas of the economy like artificial intelligence and digital algorithms.
    Courtesy Consumer Reports

    Marta Tellado, CEO of the nonprofit Consumer Reports, says shift to a digital economy may endanger some consumer rights.

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  • The U.S. Capitol building in Washington. Congress is discussing what to do about the federal debt limit, again.
    Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

    Lawmakers are close to passing a $1.7 trillion government funding bill, and we follow where the money is going. Also, we speak with Marta Tellado, president and CEO of Consumer Reports, about the cloudy picture of consumer rights in the digital age.

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David Brancaccio