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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.

  • 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.
  • The energy sector is laying off workers, as falling oil prices have slowed drilling. Analysts are sifting through the January employment report, which showed American employers added 257,000 jobs.
  • Russia reacted to Western economic sanctions by imposing a yearlong ban on U.S. and European food products. Moscow also made clear it's still considering other measures.
  • A U.S. judge has blocked an effort by Iraq's Kurdistan region to sell $100 million worth of crude oil to refiners in the U.S. It's sitting in a giant tanker ship off the coast of Texas. The judge agreed with the Iraqi government that the oil belongs to it and not the Kurds.
  • Healthpoint Services says it has a business model that will not only help the world's low-income populations — but also make a profit. Based in India, the company offers patients videoconferences with doctors, cheap diagnostic tests and clean water. And it hopes to spawn imitators as it proves it can be profitable.
  • Healthpoint Services says it has a business model that will not only help the world's low-income populations — but also make a profit. Based in India, the company offers patients videoconferences with doctors, cheap diagnostic tests and clean water. And it hopes to spawn imitators as it proves it can be profitable.
  • Guest host John Ydstie talks with Jeffrey Lehman, dean of the University of Michigan Law School, and Cornell's president-elect, about the affirmative action policies of the law school at Michigan.
  • U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has resigned, and will leave office within weeks. O'Neill has been a chief adviser to President Bush on the flagging economy. Senior White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey is also expected to give up his post. Hear more from NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR's John Ydstie.
  • Prolific "alt country" singer-songwriter Ryan Adams' second solo CD, Gold, was a huge hit in 2001. But for his follow-up CD Demolition, Adams had to choose from at least four CDs' worth of songs — all of them tracks he cut as demos. He talks with All Things Considered guest host John Ydstie about the writing process and the rock 'n' roll life.
  • Prolific "alt country" singer-songwriter Ryan Adams' second solo CD, Gold, was a huge hit in 2001. But for his follow-up CD Demolition, Adams had to choose from at least four CDs' worth of songs -- all of them tracks he cut as demos. He talks with All Things Considered guest host John Ydstie about the writing process and the rock 'n' roll life. (The CD is called Demolition by Ryan Adams on the Lost Highway record label. See http://www.ryan-adams.com/news.html.)