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 (1,995)

Oil prices up as turmoil escalates in Libya

Feb 21, 2011
British Petroleum announced today it is suspending preparations to drill in the Libyan desert. And the price of oil is headed up as violent unrest builds in Libya. Mitchell Hartman explains.

Egypt opens banks, businesses

Feb 21, 2011
Over the weekend, Egypt began the slow process of reopening businesses, schools, banks and museums following the political turmoil that led to the resignation of former president Hosni Mubarak. As Mitchell Hartman reports from Cairo, Egypt is beginning to recover from weeks of protesting and unrest.

Egyptian protesters celebrate as labor strikes continue

Feb 18, 2011
Egyptians celebrated the week anniversary of former President Hosni Mubarak stepping down, while demonstrations continued over pay and working conditions. Reporter Mitchell Hartman talks with Kai Ryssdal about what he saw in Tahrir Square and how the revolution in Egypt is affecting the country economically.

What an Arab revolution looks like-up close

Feb 17, 2011
The Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian" is playing at my favorite pizza joint in Portland as I tell my kids, age 10 and 13, that I'm going to Cairo....

Dangers in daily deal overdose

Feb 16, 2011
The trend of online daily deal websites continues to grow. How many can the market take before consumers get turned off?

Fed's Bernanke says economy is healing

Feb 9, 2011
Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, facing the Republican-controlled House for the first time, says the economy is moving in the right direction.

Internet domain names to go on sale

Feb 9, 2011
Dot this: New domains have a high price but create bigger resale market for websites.

New rules for banker bonuses

Feb 7, 2011
Federal rules would pay top earners over several years, so pay could be held back if deals eventually go bad.

Can't get a job, start a business

Feb 4, 2011
The story of one family that traded unemployment for entrepreneurship. These 'rebound entrepreneurs' took a page out of history, literally, to stake their future on a new magazine.

Parsing the numbers of 2011's first jobs report

Feb 4, 2011
The first jobs report of 2011 will be released soon. What economists are expecting in job growth and the unemployment rate.