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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

  • France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) reacts as he visits Irpin, one of the cities on the outskirts of Kiev, on June 16, 2022. - It is the first time that the leaders of the three European Union countries have visited Kyiv since Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine. They are due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a time when Kyiv is pushing for membership of the EU. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
    https://traffic.megaphone.fm/CAD4483855673.mp3

    France’s president, as well as leaders from Germany, Italy, and Romania, are in Kyiv to meet their Ukrainian counterpart. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to push the EU leaders to speed up military aid. The plunge in Bitcoin’s value has so far done little to change monetary policy in El Salvador, where it’s accepted in everyday transactions. And as nearly half of Afghans go hungry, even scraps of stale bread are an important commodity to be bought and sold in Kabul markets.

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  • Demonstrators play in a cloud of washable color powder during a Juneteenth march and rally in Washington, DC, on June 19, 2020.
    IM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

    It’s not just about messaging, says Jeanine Poggi, editor of Ad Age. Are companies prioritizing diversity behind the scenes?

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  • Federal Reserve Chair Powell testified on Capitol Hill about the U.S. labor market.
    Mark Wilson/Getty Images

    The Senate bipartisan agreement for a framework on gun control includes increasing the ability of states to enact “red flag laws.” We examine what those are, and how they’re supposed to work. New York lawmakers have set their sights on slowing down crypto mining. The BBC’s Victoria Craig checks in regarding the emergency meeting of the European Central Bank.

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  • Decision time on interest rates arrives for the Fed
    Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    It’s the day markets have been waiting for: The Federal Reserve policy-making committee wraps up two days of meetings. The central bank’s latest moves on interest rates are expected to be known in the afternoon. China correspondent Jennifer Pak details some of the struggles of Shanghai residents as the city emerges from its lengthy COVID lockdown. The landscape of school security continues to change following the mass shooting in Texas.

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  • ECB holds emergency meeting to address market turmoil
    Ronald Wittek/Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Less than a week after its last policy decision, the European Central Bank’s governing council is meeting to discuss a selloff in the regional bond market. Egypt signs a provisional deal on natural gas exports with Israel and the European Union. And the news that K-pop superstars BTS are taking some time off has broken hearts around the world – and sent shares in their record label down as much as 28%.

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  • AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 14: Merck Mercuriadis speaks onstage during the Featured Session: Nile Rodgers & Merck Mercuriadis - 2019 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 14, 2019 in Austin, Texas.
    Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SXSW

    Music industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis founded Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a company investing in music intellectual property, in 2018. It recently purchased the song catalog of Justin Timberlake and has a stable of other artists’ music. Mercuriadis explains the concept of treating songs as an asset class in today’s Economic Pulse discussion. The Fed has a full plate as it enters the first of two days of policy meetings.

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  • Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis says songs are a safer investment than assets like oil and gold because they’re less sensitive to market conditions.
    Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SXSW

    The Hipgnosis founder says his goal is to make money for shareholders and “change where the songwriter sits in the economic equation.”

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  • A person dressed as a bear to represent a bear market performs outside the New York Stock Exchange on October  6, 200 in New York. Wall Street tumbled after the opening bell as  fallout from the credit crisis triggered concerns about the economy and the Dow fell  below 10,000 for the first time in four years.
    TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

    Wall Street is looking to recover from heavy losses the last three days. On Monday, the benchmark S&P 500 index fell nearly 4% and entered what investors call a bear market. The BBC’s Victoria Craig checks in with the current status of the markets globally, while Marketplace’s Nova Safo helps us look into what teachable moments past bear markets could offer. We can now count tampons among the many items that are in short supply because of the issues gumming up the supply chain.

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  • People queue to buy Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders following shortages of essentials, in Colombo on March 14, 2022.
    ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Sri Lanka asks most state employees to take a long weekend for the next three months – and grow food in their spare time. Australia warns people to brace for an electricity shortage during an unusually cold winter. And The Gambia’s mostly female oyster harvesters are seeing their livelihood affected by a changing climate.

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  • The US Capitol is seen in Washington, DC, on January 3, 2018 before the opening of the second session of the 115th Congress. - The US Congress hits the ground running as its 2018 session kicks off, with President Donald Trump facing a two-week deadline to forge a compromise between Republicans and Democrats on immigration reform and the budget. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

    A bipartisan group of senators announced framework for a gun control deal over the weekend. We take a quick look at how that deal could impact the buying of firearms. The markets are down today, and Julia Coronado is here to walk us through some of factors behind that. We check in with Williams College in Massachusetts, which is doing away with loans and work requirements for students on financial aid.

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