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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

  • Sony has launched a new marketing site targeted to dads who read parenting blogs. The corporation is loaning daddy bloggers products to use in projects and then blog about their experience. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • Home Depot will come out with its second-quarter earnings. Rival Lowes already reported its second-quarter earnings, which fell nearly 20% from a year ago. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • Road repairs are funded though taxes on gas, but as more people buy hybrids, some are worried about what's going to happen to that revenue. Mitchell Hartman reports the search is on for a new method of taxing motorists.

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  • The USDA says there's going to be a near-record crop for corn this year. Blame it on the weather and the number of corn-ears-produced-per-acre in the Midwest grain belt. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • Data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says farmers worldwide face huge losses from weed infestation. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • The national unemployment rate declined slightly to 9.4% for July, 0.1% lower than the month prior. Yet, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs last month. So what does this contradictory data mean? Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • Financial giant AIG is reporting its first profit since 2007. The troubled insurer says it made $1.8 billion in the second quarter. Mitchell Hartman reports on the company's crawl out of its bailout hole.

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  • As members of the House head home to gauge the mood of their constituents, one congressman is focusing on small business owners, who face lost credit lines, lower borrowing limits, and trouble even getting loans from some banks. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • The government's Cash for Clunkers has been an instant hit — so successful, in fact, that the car-swapping initiative may be out of money. Steve Chiotakis talks to Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman about the program's possible next steps.

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  • The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission will set up its first permanent office in Beijing later this year. Chinese authorities must still approve the move, but some say it could help China crack down on shoddy goods. Amy Scott reports.

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