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Matt Levin

Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Matt covers AI for Marketplace, where he tries to be as polite as he can to every chatbot he meets … because, well, he’s seen sci-fi movies. Matt also covers some crypto and housing, with a taste for stories that make you say: "huh, that's kinda weird.”

Before joining Marketplace Matt was a data and housing reporter for CalMatters, focused on California politics and policy. Before that he was a statistics jockey for a think tank, focused on poverty and inequality. And long before that Matt was a really terrible teenage cashier for Toys R Us.

Matt’s previous honors include awards from the Online News Association and regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and SPJ awards.

Latest Stories (301)

National Debt

With demand down, there's a new buyer of Treasurys in town

by Matt Levin
Nov 1, 2023
The Federal Reserve and major U.S. banks are buying fewer bonds than they used to. Hedge funds are picking up some of the slack.
The Treasury Department just released its quarterly refunding statement. Next week, it will auction off billions in bonds.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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GDP grew 4.9% in Q3, the highest since 2014. How'd we get here?

by Matt Levin
Oct 26, 2023
The answer will be pretty familiar: consumer spending, and lots of it.
A majority of GDP growth came from people splurging on concerts, restaurants and durable goods.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
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The new phase of the Microsoft-Google rivalry: AI and the cloud

by Matt Levin
Oct 25, 2023
Google, aka Alphabet, and Microsoft are longtime rivals. Lately, Microsoft has been on the offensive, building strength in key areas of tech.
Microsoft invested in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, which is now integrated into the Bing search engine.
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images
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The Google antitrust case raises the question, why don't we change our tech default settings?

by Matt Levin
Oct 23, 2023
Inertia is part of the story. But so is fear of breaking everything — and Big Tech knows that.
Google pays billions to be the default search engine on popular devices. Why people choose the default option is a riddle studied by behavioral economists.
Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images
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China limits exports of graphite, a key mineral for EV batteries

by Matt Levin
Oct 20, 2023
China produces two-thirds of the world’s natural graphite. The new permit restrictions could affect EV battery production in the U.S.
Graphite is a component of electric vehicle batteries, among other products. Above, the mineral on display at a Chinese expo.
Tao Zhang/Getty Images
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Americans are still revenge spending on live events — especially concerts

by Matt Levin
Oct 19, 2023
And yet, more than half of Americans say they’re going to cut back on entertainment spending, because of rising costs.
Beyoncé and Taylor Swift took over the entertainment world this year with their highly-attended and highly-promoted concert tours.
John Shearer/Getty Images for TAS
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Big banks post big profits

by Matt Levin
Oct 13, 2023
The classic way banks make money rests on three words: net interest income.
Big banks JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup told investors they netted a combined $22 billion this past quarter.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Solutions to AI image bias raise their own ethical questions

by Matt Levin
Oct 10, 2023
De-biasing artificial intelligence image generators pose questions around synthetic diversity, historical accuracy.
Text to image AI companies know that the pictures generated by their software are informed by images that are already available on the internet. But the best way to correct for that bias can gets complicated.
Getty Images
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What do these high Treasury yields mean for the economy?

by Matt Levin
Oct 3, 2023
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note reached a 16-year high Tuesday. That benchmark rate lifts interest rates on other loans.
The Federal Reserve's interest rate policy is only part of the equation. Supply and demand for loans also influences yields.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
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The housing market is a tale of two people: The buyer and the seller

by Kristin Schwab and Matt Levin
Sep 26, 2023
Both the buyer and the seller have unrealistic expectations right now, while prices and mortgage rates are high.
"Sellers don’t want to take anything less than the peak," Daryl Fairweather of Redfin says. "Buyers are hoping it’s 2008,” says Michael Orbino of Compass.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
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