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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

  • Though the cost of a barrel of oil has dipped back below $100, consumers aren't feeling much relief at the gas pump yet.
    Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

    The price of crude oil is down about 13% since hitting roughly $130 a barrel in early March, when Russia invaded Ukraine. At the same time, the price of gasoline at the pump keeps rising, reaching new records every day. What’s going on? To help explain, we spoke to Javier Blas, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy and commodities. Plus, the U.S. subsidiary of one of the world’s largest financial services and insurance companies has agreed to pay more than $6 billion in fines and restitution for a fraud scheme that led to the collapse of a group of investment funds. And, in Shanghai, COVID numbers are dropping, but restrictions on residents are still tight.

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  • If oil prices are off their peaks, why are gas prices still rising?
    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    “Gasoline prices and diesel prices are going to be very high through the summer, potentially higher than they are today,” says Bloomberg’s Javier Blas.

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  • U.K. inflation rising at fastest pace in 40 years
    Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: U.K. inflation jumped to 9% in the 12 months to April, up from 7% in March, as higher energy bills hit millions of households. Also, could Chevron get the green light to re-start work in Venezuela? And Spain’s government proposes new laws around abortion rights.

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  • Experts say formula prices have been going up, too.
    Christopher Pearce/Getty Images

    Help is on the way for the baby formula shortage, but it’s going to take some time. Plans are underway to reopen a plant in Michigan that, when it was in operation, was the largest formula producer in the United States. However, the process of restarting the plant and producing enough formula to start filling empty spaces on store shelves will take weeks upon weeks. A program that helps people pay for heating now has to pivot to concerns on the other side – air conditioning. We look into some of the dynamics behind condo prices, which remain high.

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  • Earth day diversity and cultural celebration as diverse global cultures and multi-cultural unity.
    Getty Images

    If the world is going to find solutions to its toughest problems, it’s going to need a new infrastructure that fosters cooperation among nations. That’s the argument made by Ian Bremmer, president of political-risk consultancy Eurasia Group, in his new book “The Power of Crisis.” We look into the driving forces behind consumer spending in the face of inflation and economic uncertainty.

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  • Motorists queue up to buy fuel at a Lanka IOC fuel station in Colombo on May 2, 2022. - A strike by owners of fuel tankers over the weekend renewed Sri Lanka's long queues for diesel and petrol on May 2 as pumps ran dry, compounding the island nation's economic and energy crisis.
    Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Sri Lanka is now a country with an empty tank, as the worst economic crisis in its independent history continues to spiral. Also, what the White House’s shift in approach to Cuba could mean for the island’s economy, and we hear memories of McDonald’s in Moscow as the golden arches get set to be packed up for good in Russia.

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  • Can global economic crises result in better international cooperation?
    Johannes Simon/Getty Images

    Political scientist Ian Bremmer sees big opportunity in crisis.

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  • A nurse cares for a COVID-19 patient at a hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Dec. 4, 2020.
    Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images

    The shortage of nurses in hospitals and other healthcare facilities is affecting care across the country, and providers have tried plugging the gaps. We spoke to Deborah Burger, president of National Nurses United, the largest nursing union in the country, about the issues that contribute to the current nursing environment. Online delivery could provide help to areas that don’t have easier access to groceries with fresh food, but there are still some obstacles to consider. The BBC checks in on China’s economy (the world’s second largest) as there are growing COVID-19 lockdowns and a rising jobless rate.

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  • "There really is not a staffing shortage per se," said National Nurses United president Deborah Burger. "There's a shortage of nurses willing to put their lives and their license and patients' lives at risk, because of the conditions that our employers are providing."
    Cole Burston/AFP via Getty Images

    “There really is not a staffing shortage per se,” said National Nurses United president Deborah Burger. “There’s a shortage of nurses willing to put their lives and their license and patients’ lives at risk.”

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  • "A solar job being created in California does not replace a coal economy job in eastern Kentucky," said one expert.
    Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

    The Department of Commerce is investigating whether solar panels imported from Southeast Asia are really coming from China, and if so, should be subject to tariffs. Trade groups say the investigation casts a shadow on the industry and is also slowing down progress on certain projects. The labor shortage has affected Walmart to the point where the retail giant has launched a program to find store managers, hoping to entice college grads with the chance at eventual six-figure salaries. This year’s Memorial Day sales could provide a glimpse into how both retailers and consumers view inflation.

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