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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

  • A person holds up their COVID-19 vaccination card after receiving a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
    Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

    Dan Gorenstein of “Tradeoffs” says some evidence suggests company mandates can boost employee vaccination rates and aid communities.

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  • San Francisco and New York rents are still cheaper than before the pandemic, but markets like D.C., Seattle, Boise and Spokane are all up and continuing on those trends.
    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    With workplaces reopening and people a little more certain about where they want to be, May apartment and home rental prices rose, on a national basis, at a record pace. Plus, some evidence that company mandates for vaccines can boost employee vaccination rates and aid communities. And, scientists have used artificial intelligence to set up a system that detects COVID-19 by the sound of a cough — with almost 100% accuracy.

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  • Russia blocks some flights that are avoiding Belarus
    Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Russia has denied entry to two European airlines because they planned to avoid flying over Belarus to get to Moscow. EU leaders have asked European carriers to avoid Belarusian airspace this week after a Ryanair plane was forced to divert and land in Minsk on Sunday. Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend were then arrested.

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  • "What we have learned during the pandemic is that we can be confident in consumers' interest in doing the right thing," said Louie Gong, founder and CEO of Eighth Generation.
    Courtesy of Ken Yu/Eighth Generation

    Eighth Generation is a retailer that had to close its Seattle store early in the pandemic but blossomed online. It features wool blankets and other items produced by Native artists. Also, more signs of recovery in new data on orders for long-lasting goods and weekly unemployment aid claims. And, bank profits were up nearly 30% in the first quarter this year, but the same report finds lending fell, driven by a drop in credit card balances. We take a closer look at how consumers are spending.

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  • "What we have learned during the pandemic is that we can be confident in consumers' interest in doing the right thing," said Louie Gong, founder and CEO of Eighth Generation.
    Courtesy of Ken Yu/Eighth Generation

    Seattle-based Eighth Generation works with Native artists to create wool blankets and more.

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  • The activist hedge fund Engine No. 1 yesterday won enough support from other shareholders to get at least two seats on the board of the oil company Exxon Mobil.
    Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images

    It’s the first time climate change activists have succeeded in challenging a big oil company, says business professor Erik Gordon.

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  • The activist hedge fund Engine No. 1 yesterday won enough support from other shareholders to get at least two seats on the board of the oil company Exxon Mobil.
    Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images

    Activist hedge fund Engine No. 1, pushing for a change in Exxon Mobil’s climate strategy, got enough support from other shareholders to win at least two seats on the oil and gas company’s board. These types of challenges from activist investors tend not to get far. Plus, for the first time since President Joe Biden took office, the top trade representatives from the U.S. and China are talking. And, a study on the need for better, higher-paying jobs for young women as the pandemic recession recovery continues.

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  • A visual representation of the digital cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.
    Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told a cabinet meeting that the main cause of the blackouts was a drought that had affected hydroelectric power generation. But he also said that cryptocurrency mining, 85% of which is unlicensed, was draining more than 2 gigawatts from the grid each day.

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  • Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at a press conference on Sept. 6, 2012, in Santa Monica, California.
    David McNew/Getty Images

    The District of Columbia is suing Amazon for allegedly fixing online prices at the expense of consumers. Plus, evidence that investors are seemingly less worried about inflation this week — at least so far. And, a new health care challenge is brewing: The part of Medicare that covers hospitalizations, hospice and skilled nursing is projected to become insolvent sooner than expected.

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  • The pandemic recession has pushed so many people out of work that funding for Medicare Part A, via payroll taxes, is down.
    FG Trade via Getty Images

    Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund is projected to become insolvent sooner than expected — within three to five years.

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