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 (1,996)

People withhold donations for spill aid

Jul 5, 2010
Charitable donations to deal with the BP oil disaster have been meager. And they aren't likely to pick up any time soon. Mitchell Hartman reports.

Gov't workers are losing their pensions

Jul 2, 2010
Most workers today have 401(k) plans. Government employees, however, are an exception. The retirement guarantees they thought they had are vanishing because budget woes are forcing deep cuts in government workers' promised benefits. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman reports.

What latest jobless rate figures mean

Jul 2, 2010
The unemployment rate dropped, but don't take that as a good sign yet. Reporter Mitchell Hartman explains how to understand the latest unemployment figures.

Unions cry foul over benefit cuts

Jun 29, 2010
A fight's brewing in Baltimore over efforts to cut pensions for cops and firefighters. It mirrors similar struggles across the U.S. As local governments try to balance their budgets, retiree benefits are a juicy target. Mitchell Hartman reports that doesn't sit well with public-employee unions.

Stimulus bill failure will end unemployment benefits for over 1M

Jun 25, 2010
More than a million people will run out of unemployment benefits this week after the Senate failed to pass its latest stimulus bill yesterday.

House, Senate to vote on financial reform bill

Jun 25, 2010
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have agreed on a financial reform compromise bill that will go to vote early next week.

Fannie Mae takes action against strategic defaults

Jun 24, 2010
Fannie Mae wants to prevent homeowners from walking away from their mortgages when they could afford to make the payments.

Fed leaving benchmark funds rate near zero

Jun 24, 2010
The Federal Reserve will not be changing its benchmark interest rate, which is used for short-term, inter-bank loans. The Fed intends to keep the rate near zero for an "extended period."

Obama Administration will try to reinstate deepwater drilling ban

Jun 23, 2010
The Obama Administration is quickly regrouping to try to get its moratorium on deepwater oil drilling reinstated.

Home sales down a record 33%

Jun 23, 2010
Mortgage applications were down last week, we learned sales of existing homes fell last month and home sales dropped a record 33%.