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 (2,024)

Unemployment rate higher in minority communities

Jan 16, 2012
Dig deeper into the unemployment numbers and you'll find some groups are not seeing improvement in their work lives.

Attitudes changing on divide between rich and poor

Jan 11, 2012
A Pew survey says Americans now think the conflict between rich and poor is more important than between whites and blacks or immigrants and the native-born.

Job growth could stay slow through election season

Jan 6, 2012
Economy continues to add jobs, but not fast enough to make campaigning easy for President Obama.

B of A tightens credit to some small businesses

Jan 3, 2012
Other banks are also choosier about which businesses they lend to, and how much.

What's behind a job-hunt success

Jan 2, 2012
Nearly half of the unemployed have been looking for six months or longer. For every available job right now, there are more than four people fighting for it. But someone's getting it, right? So what accounts for the winners?

Preaching the Occupy gospel -- or not

Dec 29, 2011
Some sermons praise Occupy for raising concern about those in need. Other pastors say Jesus did not endorse an economic or political view.

Final retail rush kicks off today

Dec 26, 2011
Ten percent to 15 percent of holiday sales occur in the week after Christmas. Discounting is deep this year.

Deep holiday discounts persist

Dec 23, 2011
Retailers are sweetening their offers in the final days before Christmas, which could hurt their bottom lines.

How will the payroll tax cut be paid for?

Dec 23, 2011
The payroll tax cut is expected to be extended for another two months. How will lawmakers come up with the billions it's going to cost?

Mortgage settlement hikes the cost of Countrywide

Dec 22, 2011
Bank of America will pay $335 million to settle mortgage discrimination charges against Countrywide Financial.