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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

  • TOPSHOT - Oil-storage tanks are seen from above in Carson, California, April 25, 2020 after the price for crude plunged into negative territory for the first time in history on April 20. - Although oil prices have stabilized somewhat since the unprecedented dive, the world remains in the throes of a glut of crude oil caused by a precipitous fall in demand due to the global coronavirus pandemic coupled with a lack of storage capacity for crude already in transit or still being produced. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

    Oil prices are at their highest point since 2008, with the national average of gas topping out at more than $4 per gallon. Historically, big spikes in oil prices have been the appetizer for a recession. We start in the 1970s for our look at the historic link between the two. President Biden will reportedly sign an executive order this week to direct federal agencies to figure out how to regulate cryptocurrencies. With Visa and MasterCard about to nullify operations in Russia, what are Russian banks and cardholders in and out of the country to do? 

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  • The London Metal Exchange last upgraded its trading floor back in 2016. In 2020, it stopped in-person trading due to COVID-19.
    Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Following a 250% price surge over two days, trade was halted in nickel on the London Metal Exchange. We hear how the European Union plans to wean itself off Russian oil and gas. Plus the World Bank is making a package of emergency loans and grants available to Ukraine.

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  • The pandemic has made the mapping problem even more obvious.
    Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images

    Good news or bad news first? Cybersecurity watchers around the world have been on high alert as the war in Ukraine continues to escalate, and there’s plenty of concern about Russian cyberattacks as the conflict continues. The good news is that the U.S. added 250,000 cybersecurity jobs between 2020 and 2021. The bad news: There’s about 500,000 more open spots to fill. Julia Coronado helps us look through market activity that signals that the markets are indeed working, despite the war in Ukraine. Many companies are cutting or suspending ties with Russia over the invasion.

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  • Oil prices soared to $139 a barrel, the highest level for almost 14 years.
    TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed America and its allies are considering further sanctions against Russia, including a potential ban on the country’s crude-oil exports. Plus, one of the world’s biggest fertilizer makers warns the conflict could deliver a shock to food supplies. And we hear from a community center in western Ukraine where volunteers are working around the clock to distribute vital supplies.

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  • Blockchain entrepreneur Vignesh Sundaresan purchased the non-fungible token for the digital collage "Everydays — The First 5,000 Days" by artist Beeple for $69.3 million in 2021.
    Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

    A year ago this week, a JPEG file containing a collage of digital illustrations by the artist known as Beeple sold for $69.3 million at an art auction. It was a record-setting sale, and it’s added fuel to the hype train surrounding NFTs. We spoke to art critic Blake Gopnik about what’s changed for artists and the art world – if anything – since the sale. Western countries are thinking about a Russian oil ban, something they hoped to avoid in the past.

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  • Blockchain entrepreneur Vignesh Sundaresan purchased the non-fungible token for the digital collage "Everydays — The First 5,000 Days" by artist Beeple for $69.3 million in 2021.
    Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

    Art critic Blake Gopnik on what has — and hasn’t — changed in the year since Beeple’s $69 million NFT sale.

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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

    Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams talks to us about how dark money operates at the federal, state and local levels, and whether there are any signs the rules around it could change in the future. We hear from Ukraine’s finance minister as the world’s markets react to what’s happening there. Christopher Low adds more market insight.

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  • "It's really everywhere," said Marketplace's Kimberly Adams.
    Drew Angerer/Getty Images

    “It’s really everywhere,” said Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams.

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  • Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), points on a map of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as he informs the press about the situation of nuclear powerplants in Ukraine during a special press conference at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria on March 4, 2022. - Grossi offered to travel to Chernobyl in order to negotiate with Ukraine and Russia to try to ensure the security of Ukraine's nuclear sites. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP) (Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

    From the BBC World Service: As Russia seizes Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, we get reaction from Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko. Plus, we explore the likely impact of Western sanctions on the Russian economy. And we hear from Berlin, where families are making space for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Germany.

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  • A receiving station in Germany for Nord Stream 2, a natural gas line that would link Germany with Russia.
    John MacDougall/ AFP Getty Images

    Russia’s control over natural gas in Europe has been one of the subplots to follow leading up to its invasion into Ukraine. Europe has long relied on Russian gas to help support its wind and solar power efforts, and it keeps many a home warm in the winter, especially Germany. For more on this, we spoke with Vijay Vaitheeswaran, global energy and climate innovation editor at The Economist. The Labor Department issues its February jobs report, and its expected to show more growth as the pandemic is showing signs of subsiding.

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