John Ydstie
John Ydstie has covered the economy, Wall Street, and the Federal Reserve at NPR for nearly three decades. Over the years, NPR has also employed Ydstie's reporting skills to cover major stories like the aftermath of Sept. 11, Hurricane Katrina, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He was a lead reporter in NPR's coverage of the global financial crisis and the Great Recession, as well as the network's coverage of President Trump's economic policies. Ydstie has also been a guest host on the NPR news programs Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Ydstie stepped back from full-time reporting in late 2018, but plans to continue to contribute to NPR through part-time assignments and work on special projects.
During 1991 and 1992, Ydstie was NPR's bureau chief in London. He traveled throughout Europe covering, among other things, the breakup of the Soviet Union and attempts to move Europe toward closer political and economic union. He accompanied U.S. businessmen exploring investment opportunities in Russia as the Soviet Union was crumbling. He was on the scene in The Netherlands when European leaders approved the Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union.
In August 1990, Ydstie was one of the first reporters on the scene after Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army invaded Kuwait. He accompanied U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia as a member of the Pentagon press pool sent to cover the Iraqi invasion for U.S. media outlets.
Ydstie has been with NPR since 1979. For two years, he was an associate producer responsible for Midwest coverage. In 1982, he became senior editor on NPR's Washington Desk, overseeing coverage of the federal government, American politics, and economics. In 1984, Ydstie joined Morning Edition as the show's senior editor, and later was promoted to the position of executive producer. In 1988, he became NPR's economics correspondent.
During his tenure with NPR, Ydstie has won numerous awards. He was a member of the NPR team that received the George Foster Peabody Award for its coverage of Sept. 11. Ydstie's reporting from Saudi Arabia helped NPR win the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award in 1991 for coverage of the Gulf War. In 2016, Ydstie received a Gerald Loeb Award for financial reporting for his contributions to an NPR series on financial planning.
Prior to joining NPR, Ydstie was a reporter and producer at Minnesota Public Radio. Ydstie is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he is now on the Board of Regents. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, with a major in English literature and a minor in speech communications. Ydstie was born in Minneapolis and grew up in rural North Dakota.
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"Baby Bonds" are back in the news. Two professors presented their idea to do something about widening inequality to an economics conference. They suggest creating an education trust fund for each newborn. The grants — ranging from $500 to $50,000 — would be on a sliding scale tied to household income.
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The House tax plan differs significantly from the version being sculpted in the Senate. Both plans seem to agree that a big corporate tax cut is needed. The president wants a tax measure by Christmas.
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President Trump is expected to announce his pick to lead the Federal Reserve Thursday. Advisers have been hinting it will be Jerome Powell, who is currently a member of the Fed's Board of Governors.
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At what could be one of Janet Yellen's last meetings as Federal Reserve chair, policymakers decided to keep short-term rates unchanged. But analysts are looking for a rate increase next month.
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Bob Cook and his colleagues make dreams happen in their Maryland auto body shop. They work exclusively on VW Beetles and buses from another era, carefully bringing them back to life for their owners.
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The U.S. Census Bureau released a trio of reports Tuesday on income, poverty and health insurance coverage. All three measures showed improvement. Real median household income increased by 3.2 percent in 2016 over the previous year, and now stands at just over $59,000. The official poverty rate fell for the second year in a row to 12.7 percent.
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Many employers complain about not being able to find workers with the right skills, but experts says some of these employers aren't trying very hard.
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Private-sector firms are pitching in to help Harvey victims. Walmart and its foundation pledged at least $1 million to the Red Cross and other relief agencies. The Home Depot Foundation did the same.
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Starting kindergarten later could boost kids' grades and improve their odds of attending a top college. Being the youngest kid in class can hurt their academic performance.
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Employers added 209,000 jobs to payrolls last month, according to the government's jobs report released Friday morning. The unemployment rate ticked down a notch to 4.3 percent, matching a 16-year low.