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Mitchell Hartman

Correspondent

SHORT BIO

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 Stories (1,998)

Skilled factory workers hard to find

Jun 21, 2012
A report says more than half of American companies are having trouble finding enough skilled workers to hire. Why don’t employers train workers instead?

Can Nokia's freebies build brand loyalty?

Jun 15, 2012
Nokia puts giveaways to the test with free smartphones for first-year students at Seton Hall University.

The cost of raising kids

Jun 15, 2012
Top earners are able to spend more, boosting their children's odds for future success.

Buffett's big play in private jet market

Jun 13, 2012
Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets will buy $9.6 billion in new planes from Cessna and Bombardier.

App developers vie for Apple customers

Jun 11, 2012
The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off in San Francisco today, analysts expect newly designed laptops, perhaps a new Apple TV, and an updated operating system for mobile devices.

Lululemon shows limit of yoga market

Jun 7, 2012
Although Lululemon's profits were up this quarter, the yoga market outlook is softening despite affluent devotees that are willing to pay high prices for the fitness activity.

Checking in with the newly unemployed: Part 2

Jun 1, 2012
Newly unemployed, a newcomer to the search for work talks about his next steps.

Checking in with the newly unemployed

Jun 1, 2012
Fresh out of work, a newcomer to the search for work talks about her next steps.

Jobless unsurprised by today's bad report

Jun 1, 2012
People at an unemployment office say they're experiencing jobless numbers firsthand.

When unemployment runs out -- what's next?

May 31, 2012
More long-term unemployed workers turn to food stamps and other government programs.