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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

  • Foreign laborers make up the overwhelming majority of Qatar. The country's "sponsorship" system has come under scrutiny from human rights activists in the leadup to the World Cup.
    Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

    The system has come under scrutiny over alleged human rights and labor abuses during the construction preceding the World Cup.

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  • Migrant workers in blue jumpsuits and neon yellow work vests walk on a construction site for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
    Marwan Naamani/AFP via Getty Images

    The brand-new, state-of-the-art soccer complexes that make up the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar, which kicks off this weekend, would not be if it weren’t for the migrant workers from Asia and Africa who built them. And yet those workers endured poor living and working conditions, long hours and little pay. We look into the country’s “kafala” labor system, which has received renewed criticism in the leadup to the Cup. Also, a look at new Biden administration guidelines that make it easier for student loan borrowers in bankruptcy to dismiss their debt.

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  • Egyptian police secure the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Centre, during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of the same name, on November 17, 2022. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

    From the BBC World Service: As the U.N.’s COP27 climate conference concludes, there are still disagreements over a number of issues. The biggest is the question of compensation for the countries most affected by climate change. Plus, how Lebanon’s economic crisis is driving some young men into the arms of the Islamic State. And, Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is at a “crisis point” after continued Russian bombardment.

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  • Bill seeks to end NDAs when it comes to sexual harassment at work
    Getty Images

    First, Diane Swonk of KPMG helps us decipher how consumer data potentially impacts the Fed. A bill that bans nondisclosure agreements in cases of sexual harassment at work in heading to President Biden’s desk. Urban revitalization expert and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Majora Carter discusses the power of the all-cash deal in the housing market.

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  • Was last week the right time to borrow for a house?
    Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

    What impact could falling mortgage rates have on homebuyers? Sticking with the housing market, we check in with urban revitalization specialist Majora Carter. Then, we look into the challenges that come with the spike in hiring for diversity and inclusion managers. 

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  • Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves Downing Street in central London on his way to make a full budget statement in the House of Commons on November 17, 2022. - Britain is set to unveil hefty tax rises and spending cuts at the risk of worsening a cost-of-living crisis for millions in the recession-bound economy. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

    From the BBC World Service: After a period of political and economic turmoil, the U.K.’s new finance minister is unveiling a series of spending cuts and tax rises. What do small businesses want to hear? Plus, an Australian billionaire kicks off an infrastructure fund for post-war Ukraine. And, how the gaming industry is making big titles more accessible for people with disabilities.

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  • Housing strategist Majora Carter says that the trend is especially pronounced in low-income neighborhoods, where private equity firms and other companies use all-cash deals to rapidly snap up housing.
    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Private equity firms and other real estate investors are taking advantage of high mortgage rates in low-income neighborhoods, says housing strategist Majora Carter.

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  • Spending ascended in the month of October
    Getty Images

    Retail sales numbers came in higher than expected, and Scott Wren of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute helps us understand what that means for the economy. Also, thousands and thousands of UC graduate workers are striking. We look into the reason why. And, you can add Walmart to the list of companies having to settle up in the wake of an opioid lawsuit.

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  • The Fed's consumer credit report, due out today, will show whether people are continuing to take on more and more debt.
    Getty Images

    The increase in credit card debt is the biggest in decades, but let’s look beyond. For the Economic Pulse, we speak to the founder of a nonprofit that helps Black business owners get established in the Mississippi Delta.

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  • GDANSK, POLAND - JUNE 06: A view of the LOTOS Oil Refinery on June 06, 2022 in Gdansk, Poland. The EU's recent ban on Russian oil made an exception for piped oil, such as that which comes via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary, Germany and Poland. However the latter two countries have pledged to voluntarily stop taking oil from the northern leg of the Druzhba pipeline, which has a terminus in Gdansk. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)

    From the BBC World Service: A key oil pipeline supplying European countries was taken offline after a missile landed near Poland’s border with Ukraine. How significant is the Druzhba pipeline for Europe’s energy infrastructure? Plus, Wednesday marks a “new age” for the European Union as landmark legislation called the Digital Services Act, or DSA, comes into effect.

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