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Mitchell Hartman

Correspondent

Mitchell’s most important job at Marketplace is to explain the economy in ways that non-expert, non-business people can understand. Michell thinks of his audience as anyone who works, whether for money or not, and lives in the economy . . . which is most people.

Mitchell wants to understand, and help people understand, how the economy works, who it helps, who it hurts and why. Mitchell gets to cover what he thinks are some of the most interesting aspects of the economy: wages and inflation, consumer psychology, wealth inequality, economic theory and how it measures up to economic reality.

Mitchell was a high school newspaper nerd and a college newspaper editor. He has worked for The Philadelphia Inquirer, WXPN-FM, WBAI-FM, KPFK-FM, Pacifica Radio, the CBC, the BBC, Monitor Radio, Cairo Today Magazine, The Jordan Times, The Middletown Press, The New Haven Register, Oregon Business Magazine, the Reed College Alumni Magazine, and Marketplace (twice — 1994-2001 & 2008-present).

Mitchell has gone on strike (Newspaper Guild vs. Knight Ridder, Philadelphia, 1985) and helped organize a union (with SAG-AFTRA at Marketplace, 2021-23). Mitchell once interviewed Marcel Marceau and got him to talk.

Latest from Mitchell Hartman

  • A new government report looks into problems with foreclosures across the banking system. Reporter Mitchell Hartman talks with Jeremy Hobson about where we stand with the foreclosure problems.

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  • A report out this morning from the Chronicle of Philanthropy says philanthropists are not giving as much. In the midst of the Great Recession, donations were down last year by double-digits. Now that decline has hit the country's biggest charities. Reporter Mitchell Hartman talks the details with Steve Chiotakis.

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  • One of the most important sources of jobs going forward will be start-ups — developing everything from new software and Internet tools, to more efficient batteries and life-saving drugs. But investment in start-ups has fallen sharply since before the recession, and it's taking a while to come back. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • Three economists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for helping to explain why big, complex markets — like for houses or jobs — don't always do a good job of matching buyers and sellers.

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  • If you take a closer look at the jobs added in September to keep the unemployment rate steady, many of the jobs are low-paying, temporary jobs — not exactly the jobs of a recovery.

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  • The FAA announced a rule on how far back other planes should be from the new plane.

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  • A stimulus program that put hundreds of thousands of unemployed people back to work is out of money. Senate Republicans have blocked new stimulus money to keep the program going. So workers in 38 states could start getting pink slips right away. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • Job growth is increasing, but at much slower rate than the growth of the working-age population. The severity of the recession may change the job market for many years to come.

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  • Unemployment hovers around 10 percent — a good chunk of the population. An affiliate of the AFL-CIO is trying to mobilize those unemployed to get liberal Democrats into offices — but it's going to be a challenge to get them into the voting booths.

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  • As part of a new marketing campaign next week, Budweiser will hand out free brewskis in bars and restaurants nationwide. The company is trying to attract younger drinkers. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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