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 city of Los Angeles hosts thousands as fans flock to Staples Center to pay tribute to Michael Jackson. Some businesses around the city see opportunities for extra cash. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • The flow of initial public offerings slowed to a crawl during the first half 2009, but the number of IPOs has taken off recently. Could this spell success for start-ups in the months ahead? Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • How much money people get in their unemployment checks — and even whether they're eligible for jobless benefits — depends a lot on where they live. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • Nearly all states have had to make program cuts to deal with big budget shortfalls. Mitchell Hartman reports that despite all the budget cuts, the pain is not nearly over.

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  • General Electric plans to build a new research and development center in Michigan, and GM will make its Chevy Spark in the Great Lakes State. Mitchell Hartman reports why the companies are choosing to invest in and around the Motor City.

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  • China will soon require all computers sold in the country — including U.S.-made hardware — be equipped with Internet-filtering software. But glitches in the program could put a strain on U.S.-China relations. Mitchell Hartman explains.

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  • The next surge in foreclosures has arrived. Borrowers with good credit are defaulting, and the latest wave of foreclosures is already lapping at the edge of communities all over America. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • It's no surprise that the housing crisis hit subprime borrowers or those who bit off more than they could chew. But now foreclosures seem to be making their way to prime borrowers — those with good credit and a fixed rate. Mitchell Hartman reports.

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  • The Senate has passed a bill that'll give vouchers to car buyers who trade in their gas-guzzling clunkers for more fuel-efficient vehicles. Mitchell Hartman reports on who benefits and loses from the "Cash For Clunkers" program.

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  • Starting tonight, Facebook users can choose their own URL. This will make profiles easier to find in search engines and to remember. Mitchell Hartman reports why it won't be far-fetched to start seeing Facebook URLs on business cards.

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