Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories
 

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

  • The wife of convicted Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff is being sued for millions acquired from her husband's investment firm. She's the first of Madoff's family to be sued over his case. Mitchell Hartman has more details.

    Read MoreDownload
  • The Obama administration's loan modification program to keep people in their homes hasn't had the results many were hoping for. Mortgage servicers will be at the White House today to explain why. Mitchell Hartman reports.

    Read MoreDownload
  • Bank of America is planning to shut down as many as 10% of its neighborhood branches. Bank executives see the need for physical locations dwindling as computers and smart phones take over. Mitchell Hartman reports.

    Read MoreDownload
  • New home sales rose in June, despite bank lending falling significantly in the second quarter. Home prices have fallen so much that sales are finally picking up. Could the housing crisis be abating? Mitchell Hartman reports.

    Read MoreDownload
  • Citigroup is trying to decide whether to pay one of its executives the sum of $100 million. But that may be tricky as the bank is one of seven overseen by U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. Mitchell Hartman reports.

    Read MoreDownload
  • President Obama is creating a $4 billion grant program for schools, but only if they accept certain reforms. States may be disqualified from receiving money, unless they agree to use test score data to set teacher pay. Mitchell Hartman reports.

    Read MoreDownload
  • Congress is debating whether to allow government money to flow into firms backed by venture capitalists. Some argue start-ups can't make it without VC money, but that shouldn't cut them off from government funds. Mitchell Hartman reports.

    Read MoreDownload
  • Media buzz usually spotlights 20-something Ivy League grads who start the hottest new tech companies and social networks. But the average tech-company founder is 39 and entrepreneurs over 50 surpass the younger generation two-to-one. Mitchell Hartman reports.

    Read MoreDownload
  • Immigration from Mexico has slowed dramatically according to a new report out today from the Pew Hispanic Center. As Mitchell Hartman reports, the economy on both sides of the border is a major factor in the human ebb and flow.

    Read MoreDownload
  • The National Small Business Association releases its mid-year survey today, and everything from revenue to number of employees on payroll has gotten worse since December. Mitchell Hartman looks at what's challenging small businesses now.

    Read MoreDownload