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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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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All major stock indexes — including the Dow — are in record territory, even though the Trump administration has failed to deliver on key legislative promises. But other factors are at play. -
A key part of Trump's tax plan is to repatriate corporate profits held overseas back to the U.S. The idea is that companies will free up overseas earnings and invest in jobs and equipment in the U.S.
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President Trump plans to unveil more detail about his plan to change the tax code Wednesday. The administration reportedly plans to pursue tax cuts without offsetting the expected loss in revenue.
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President Trump and House Republicans want to slash the corporate tax rate. But coming up with a plan may be hard because of disagreement over a "border adjustment tax." -
President Trump signed an executive action that sets the stage for a dramatic rollback of regulations put into place following the financial crisis. The president also wants to halt an Obama administration rule that requires financial advisers to act in their clients best interest in retirement planning.
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Steve Mnuchin ran into sharp criticism at his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Most of it had to do with his role as the CEO of a bank that critics say turned into a foreclosure machine.
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Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump's pick for treasury secretary, said the bank he ran did what it could to minimize foreclosures during the financial crisis. He also defended his use of offshore accounts for hedge fund clients, while acknowledging the need to close loopholes. Mnuchin also told lawmakers he thinks the Internal Revenue Service needs a bigger staff and better technology.
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Treasury secretary pick Steve Mnuchin is expected to face hard questions at his confirmation hearing. During the financial crisis, Mnuchin led a bank that foreclosed on thousands of homeowners.
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Donald Trump turned to Twitter again to lambast big automakers into building more cars in the U.S. Experts say the president has wide-ranging powers to restrict trade.
