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.
-
About half of the financial professionals surveyed say their competitors have behaved unethically or illegally to gain an advantage. And many say compensation and bonuses can create bad incentives.
-
Falling oil prices haven't boosted economic growth as much as expected. That's partly because consumers have chosen to pay down debt and save some of the windfall rather than spend it all. -
European interest rates are being pushed so low — to less than zero — that some banks are paying borrowers to take loans. Such low rates are aimed at boosting Europe's economy, but there are risks. -
Depending on the size of the subsidy they got, some will get a bigger refund than expected and others will owe taxes. -
Over the past year, the economy had added more than 200,000 jobs each month. That streak broke in the most recent report, as growth dipped to just 126,000 jobs — fewer than economists had anticipated.
-
A strong U.S. dollar is raising concerns that it may be too strong and cause problems for the U.S. economy. But many analysts say the positives of a strong dollar usually outweigh the negatives.
-
If the Supreme Court strikes down subsidies, millions of people could no longer afford health insurance. And premiums for others would rise dramatically, as healthier people leave the marketplace. -
Much of the oil industry is gathered in Houston this week for an annual conference that serves as a deal-making forum for producers large and small. Deals may be harder to reach this year because there is so much uncertainty about the price of oil.
-
The big drop in oil prices is a gift to consumers that should propel the U.S. economy, analysts say. But those lower prices are hurting the energy sector, and consumers continue to be cautious. -
The Labor Department provided more evidence Friday that the U.S. job picture is finally getting back to normal — nearly six years after the great recession ended. The monthly jobs report showed an increase more than a million jobs over the past three months. The unemployment rate did tick up to a notch, but even that is a positive signal.
