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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

  • Federal unemployment aid eligibility is being expanded to three additional categories of workers.
    Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

    There’s some fine print that could help people with job trouble during the pandemic. Plus, the latest readings on consumer spending, household incomes and inflation. Also, subsidies for lower-income Americans to get better internet access. And, with Democrats ascendant in Washington, could there be some national deregulation of marijuana?

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  • Federal unemployment aid eligibility is being expanded to three additional categories of workers.
    Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

    The headline is that people who’ve turned down work for health and safety reasons can be eligible for federal aid.

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  • "It was this magical wonderland where pretty much everything with a power cord was on sale," said Parker Hall, a product reviewer for Wired.
    David McNew/Newsmakers

    The ailing tech store closed this week, devastating longtime fans.

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  • Some people selling land stolen from indigenous communities admit they don't have proof of ownership documents.
    BBC News

    Hundreds of people are offering land stolen from indigenous communities. Some sellers admit they don’t even have proof of ownership documents. Plus, worries about higher inflation and interest rates have driven down stock markets worldwide. And, are gadgets the best way to get a good night’s sleep?

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  • "It was this magical wonderland where pretty much everything with a power cord was on sale," said Parker Hall, a product reviewer for Wired.
    David McNew/Newsmakers

    What these disappearing features of the American landscape mean to us. And, Texas weather may be back in the mid-70s, but the people there are still dealing with effects of the deep freeze, including interruptions at grocery stores.

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  • They're known as rapid antigen tests. Right now there is no cheap, at-home version available in the United States without a prescription, but several applications are in the queue before the FDA. Pictured: A rapid antigen test in Spain.
    Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

    Other countries have wider access to cheap, easy, at-home COVID tests. Will more people in the U.S. see that soon? Plus, the state of unemployment claims in the U.S. after the winter storms last week. And, Biden’s stamp on the United States Postal Service.

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  • A new eight-part podcast series from The Economist explores Xi Jinping's rise to power. Xi has reinforced the Communist Party's central role in all aspects of Chinese life, says Economist Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes.
    Noel Celis-Pool/Getty Images

    State media credited President Xi Jinping’s leadership with lifting nearly 100 million people from absolute destitution. But, there has been some debate over how to define “extreme poverty.” Also, competition is heating up in China’s budget electric car market. And, India probes dozens of money lending apps.

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  • President Joe Biden holds a semiconductor during his remarks before signing an executive order on the economy at the White House on Feb. 24, 2021 in Washington.
    Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images

    President Joe Biden’s executive order to review supply chains will include everything from semiconductor chips to personal protective equipment. Plus, new evidence of the toll stress takes on teachers, and how it’s gotten worse during the pandemic. And, just over half of American adults have more money saved for an emergency than they do credit card debt. That is actually an improvement.

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  • Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, has now signed criminal justice reform legislation that includes the change, ending cash bail in 2023.
    Joshua Lott/Getty Images

    Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed criminal justice reform legislation that includes ending cash bail in 2023. Plus, changes to the Paycheck Protection Program intended to help smaller businesses owned by women and people of color. And, British regulators take a closer look at “buy now, pay later” shopping.

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  • Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, has now signed criminal justice reform legislation that includes the change, ending cash bail in 2023.
    Joshua Lott/Getty Images

    Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, has now signed criminal justice reform legislation that includes ending cash bail in 2023.

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