Kristin Schwab

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Kristin Schwab is a reporter at Marketplace focusing on the consumer economy. She's based in Brooklyn, New York.

Before Marketplace, Kristin produced narrative and news podcasts for The New York Times, New York Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. She teaches audio journalism at her alma mater, Columbia Journalism School.

Kristin also has a BFA in dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. After performing with ballet and modern companies, she got her start in journalism as an editor at Dance Magazine. Kristin grew up in Minnesota and has been a bit reporting obsessed since watching the '90s PBS show "Ghostwriter" as a kid. Yes, she had one of those necklace pens and a marbled composition notebook.

Episodes by Kristin (10)

Marketplace

Steel tariffs déjà vu

Apr 17, 2024

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Marketplace

“This is the time to be a saver”

Apr 2, 2024

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Marketplace

Ultimately, the joke's on Gmail rivals

Apr 1, 2024

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Marketplace

Can we break out of the mortgage lock-in effect?

Feb 19, 2024

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Marketplace

Shoppers love easy returns. But retailers aren't sold on 'em.

Nov 24, 2023

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Marketplace Minute

Wall Street rallies on inflation

Nov 14, 2023

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Marketplace

A closer look at unemployment and wealth gap data

Oct 19, 2023

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Marketplace

How water moves — or stalls — the economy

Oct 18, 2023

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Marketplace Minute

Oil prices are in flux

Sep 6, 2023

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Marketplace

Tracing the roots of Labor Day

Sep 4, 2023

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Latest Stories (505)

What's driving car prices ever higher?

by Kristin Schwab

Apr 6, 2023

The new entry-level price for a new vehicle is $25,000, auto research site Edmunds says.

Ford is one automaker that has moved its focus from smaller, more affordable sedans to trucks and SUVs.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

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Fast food menu hacks are taking over TikTok

by Kristin Schwab

Apr 5, 2023

They create both chaos and money-making opportunities for businesses.

The rise of social media and digital ordering has spawned a slew of menu hacks and complex orders.

Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images

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Employers want everyone back in the office — for real this time

by Kristin Schwab

Apr 4, 2023

A less robust job market has made corporate leaders' preference easier to implement.

Companies like Meta are pausing the hiring of remote workers. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the data suggests that engineers who started at the company in person generally perform better than people who trained remotely.

Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

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The FTC seeks to make it easier to cancel subscriptions

by Kristin Schwab

Mar 28, 2023

The agency has proposed new rules that would require companies to make unsubscribing less onerous.

Federal Trade Commission chair Lina M. Khan. The agency is eyeing rules that would require companies to make unsubscribing from services easier.

Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images

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It's been one year since the Fed started raising interest rates to curb inflation

by Kristin Schwab

Mar 23, 2023

Back then it seemed like inflation might be what economists call "transitory." But here we are.

Economist Laurence Ball said many people including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell dismissed the inflation issue initially.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Reverse stock splits explained through a battle against bankruptcy

by Kristin Schwab

Mar 22, 2023

Bed Bath & Beyond is seeking a reverse split, a sign that a company is not confident that its stock will rise on its own, one expert says.

If Bed Bath & Beyond's stock falls under a dollar for an extended time, it risks delisting from Nasdaq.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Rent hikes are finally easing — except for renters who can afford it the least

by Kristin Schwab

Mar 21, 2023

Rents at the bottom of the market, where supply is tighter relative to demand, have risen faster than those of higher-priced properties.

Rent price growth is stuck at around 8.5% for lower-priced renters, well above the increases in other segments of the market.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

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Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

Behind SVB's collapse were a whole lot of texts on messaging groups

by Kristin Schwab

Mar 17, 2023

Chatter among the bank's depositors on social media and texting groups may have exacerbated its demise.

Bank runs of the 1930s happened slowly, because we banked and communicated differently then.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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"You only live once" may explain Americans' continued spending spree

by Kristin Schwab

Mar 16, 2023

Some attribute it to pent-up demand. Others think the American consumer may have changed.

From dining out more frequently to traveling more, Americans continue to splurge on services despite persistent inflation.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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How much should we trust "seasonally adjusted" numbers these days?

by Kristin Schwab

Mar 8, 2023

January was an outlier for jobs, spending and inflation — but can we rely on seasonally adjusted data when the past three Januarys have been so weird?

Did a warm January encourage a surge in consumer spending and inflation? "It’s very hard to explain that all with weather," says Johns Hopkins economist Jonathan Wright.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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Kristin Schwab

Reporter

SHORT BIO

Episodes by Kristin (10)

Latest Stories (505)

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