Kai Ryssdal

Host and Senior Editor

Kai is the host and senior editor of “Marketplace,” the most widely heard program on business and the economy — radio or television, commercial or public broadcasting — in the country. Kai speaks regularly with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, startup entrepreneurs, small-business owners and everyday participants in the American and global economies. Before his career in broadcasting, Kai served in the United States Navy and United States Foreign Service. He’s a graduate of Emory University and Georgetown University. Kai lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children.

Latest from Kai Ryssdal

Aug 22, 2007
Dear Kai, Countrywide needs your cash
Kai Ryssdal got an invitation from Countrywide in his mail, urging him to apply for a 40-year mortgage. This piqued his interest, since Countrywide's reported to be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. He got mortgage broker Seth Asher to explain.
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Aug 22, 2007
An out-of-this-world-business plan
Wealthy entrepreneurs are spending millions of dollars to develop spaceships and a space hotel for what they see as the next big thing: commercial space travel. Author Michael Belfiore has a new book about it. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.
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Aug 21, 2007
So where do things go from here?
Now that the Federal Reserve has stepped in to calm credit-crunch fears, we figured it was time to assess where the markets and the economy might be headed. Kai Ryssdal talked with Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James.
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Aug 18, 2007
Week on Wall Street
Stockbroker and business analyst David Johnson talks with host Kai Ryssdal about the markets' nervous reactions to the liquidity shortage.
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Aug 17, 2007
Hip-hop’s cash kings
You probably won't find Shawn Carter or Curtis Jackson on any list of Who's Who in American Business. But they're on top of the new Forbes magazine list of hip-hop's cash kings. Forbes' Lea Goldman is on the beat.
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Aug 17, 2007
Even a safe bet is harder to find
Worries about the usually safe investment in "commercial paper" — short-term bonds companies float to run their operations — are trickling through the markets. Moody's chief economist John Lonski explains.
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Aug 15, 2007
Amid ‘panic,’ what’s a portfolio worth?
Another investment group said today it won't let investors redeem shares until it figures out exactly what the price on those shares should be. Steven Miller of Standard & Poors explains why the value is now hard to determine.
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Aug 14, 2007
Mortgage-backed securities 101
Mortgage-backed securities seem to be at the root of the markets' problems these days. So what exactly are they? Kai Ryssdal turns to portfolio manager Mike Hatley to help us all understand.
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Aug 10, 2007
Bush not pumped about gas tax
At a news conference, President Bush made it clear what he thinks of a higher gas tax to fix the nation's infrastructure. He also fielded a larger-than-usual array of questions about the state of the U.S. economy.
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Aug 9, 2007
Putting a price on a record-breaking ball
How much is Barry Bonds' record-breaking home-run ball worth? We called around to some sports memorabilia folks to find out.
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