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 (2,023)

Obama: Schools must 'race to the top'

Jul 24, 2009
President Obama is creating a $4 billion grant program for schools, but only if they accept certain reforms. States may be disqualified from receiving money, unless they agree to use test score data to set teacher pay. Mitchell Hartman reports.

Congress may stop some start-up funds

Jul 24, 2009
Congress is debating whether to allow government money to flow into firms backed by venture capitalists. Some argue start-ups can't make it without VC money, but that shouldn't cut them off from government funds. Mitchell Hartman reports.

Elders dominate among entrepreneurs

Jul 23, 2009
Media buzz usually spotlights 20-something Ivy League grads who start the hottest new tech companies and social networks. But the average tech-company founder is 39 and entrepreneurs over 50 surpass the younger generation two-to-one. Mitchell Hartman reports.

Immigration to U.S. slows to a trickle

Jul 22, 2009
Immigration from Mexico has slowed dramatically according to a new report out today from the Pew Hispanic Center. As Mitchell Hartman reports, the economy on both sides of the border is a major factor in the human ebb and flow.

No silver lining for small businesses

Jul 22, 2009
The National Small Business Association releases its mid-year survey today, and everything from revenue to number of employees on payroll has gotten worse since December. Mitchell Hartman looks at what's challenging small businesses now.

Earnings show tech sector struggling

Jul 17, 2009
IBM and Google reported earnings yesterday, and both companies are up over last quarter. But the tech sector is still suffering. Mitchell Hartman explores some of the low points in this week's technology earnings.

Highlights from today's earnings

Jul 16, 2009
JP Morgan Chase announced its first increase in two years, while Harley Davidson's profits were down a staggering 91 percent. Mitchell Hartman explores these and other facets of today's earning report.

CIT needs debt-holders to pay up

Jul 16, 2009
With the U.S. government unwilling to help CIT, the small to mid-size business lender has given its debt-holders 24 hours to come up with $2 billion in emergency financing -- or else. Mitchell Hartman explores the consequences of not paying up.

Why not further empower the Fed?

Jul 15, 2009
The White House wants to try to avoid the next financial crisis by giving new powers to the Federal Reserve, but a group of prominent investors and former regulators says that's a bad idea. Bill Radke talks to Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman.

Lobbyists call health care bill costly

Jul 15, 2009
The health care bill unveiled yesterday by House Democrats would insure nearly all Americans and run up a trillion-dollar bill, paid for with tax hikes and surcharges. Business lobbyists say it's too expensive. Mitchell Hartman reports.