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Kristin Schwab

Reporter

SHORT BIO

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 (32)

Marketplace

Tupperware, Halloween candy, claw machines — oh my!

Oct 25, 2024
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Marketplace

Women deserve credit

Oct 21, 2024
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Marketplace

The economics of immigration

Sep 5, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1236

Harris throws a bone to the business folks

Sep 5, 2024
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Marketplace

Who's still hiring?

Sep 4, 2024
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Marketplace

The politics of Fed independence

Aug 9, 2024
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Marketplace

This back-to-school season, "value" is at the top of America's shopping list

Aug 8, 2024
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Marketplace

Has the Fed ever met its 2 goals?

Aug 7, 2024
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Marketplace

Why we freak out when the stock market freaks out

Aug 6, 2024
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Marketplace

“Chaotic,” “volatile,” “tumultuous”

Aug 5, 2024
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Latest Stories (552)

The last time inflation was under 3% was March 2021

by Kristin Schwab
Aug 21, 2024
The economy — and life —has changed a lot since.
The world looked very different the last time inflation rates dipped under 3%.
Montinique Monroe/Getty Images
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Federal Reserve's path to 2% inflation could be short but tricky

by Kristin Schwab
Aug 20, 2024
Because data lags, the current level is uncertain. Plus, key factors like unemployment and the commercial property market are volatile.
The Fed may start cutting interest rates before inflation reaches its 2% target because data lags behind current conditions. It's like looking at the rearview mirror while driving.
Amy Toensing/Getty Images
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The Federal Reserve controls one interest rate. How does that affect all the others?

by Kristin Schwab
Aug 14, 2024
Generally, rates move in concert. But industries have their own criteria for lending and make changes at their own pace.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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Small businesses are just as grumpy about the economy as consumers

by Kristin Schwab
Aug 13, 2024
Optimism has increased, but it's still below a 50-year average, a National Federation of Independent Business survey shows.
For a lot of business owners, this high inflation is stressful to navigate, says Holly Wade of the NFIB.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Manhattan's Chinatown has a succession planning problem

by Kristin Schwab
Aug 12, 2024
Nearly a quarter of the neighborhood's residents are over 65. As business owners retire, the enclave could lose its cultural roots.
Small, family-run businesses play a big role in Chinatown in New York's Manhattan borough. Many people who established or inherited those businesses are nearing retirement, but not all have planned what comes next.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
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Why is the price of an airport sandwich sky-high?

by Kristin Schwab and Sean McHenry
Aug 8, 2024
"The cost of running a business in the airport is actually really high," says Lora Kelley at The Atlantic.
Food prices at airports typically cost about 10% more than street prices. Above, a restaurant at Austin–Bergstrom International Airport.
George Rose/Getty Images
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What female entrepreneurs of the 19th century can teach us about the modern economy

by Kristin Schwab and Maria Hollenhorst
Aug 7, 2024
Economic researcher Ruveyda Nur Gozen analyzed 3,589 women-owned manufacturing businesses from the 1800s.
"Women entrepreneurs or [manufacturing] business owners hired more women compared to their male counterparts" in the 19th century, said research economist Ruveyda Nur Gozen.
Boston Public Library via Wikimedia Commons
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In a rural Texas town, the constant hum of a bitcoin mine haunts residents

by Kristin Schwab and Sofia Terenzio
Aug 7, 2024
People have attributed symptoms from ringing ears to heart issues to the noise, Andrew Chow of Time explains.
Cryptocurrency mines are basically facilities that hold thousands of computers, which are cooled by fans.
Maxim Zmeyev/AFP via Getty Images
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Stealth shopping — hiding purchases from spouses — is on the rise

by Kristin Schwab and Aleezeh Hasan
Aug 6, 2024
As online shopping has become the norm, some people's spending habits have become stealth missions to keep from their partners.
More people are shopping from home, but larger spending habits have become secrets to be kept from significant others.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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As Magnificent Seven stocks dip, smaller companies have taken up the mantle

by Kristin Schwab and Sarah Leeson
Aug 5, 2024
The companies that could profit the most from a potential Fed rate cut aren't Big Tech companies, so investors are shifting their focus.
With Big Tech companies stumbling in recent earnings, the hundreds of smaller companies in the S&P 500 have sprung to life.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
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