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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Americans are consuming less gasoline, but upward pressure on crude oil prices, seasonal factors and the shutdown of some refineries are combining to push up prices at the pump. -
The price of gas keeps rising for Americans, but it's not because of rising demand from consumers. In fact, demand has fallen since 2007. Consumers' craving for hybrids and aversion to paying more at the pump are only part of the story. -
NPR's John Ydstie wraps up the week's economic news, looking at banking stress tests, the markets' performance and the Goldman Sachs resignation.
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The U.S. has been dependent on foreign oil for its energy needs for decades. Some analysts now say the country could become energy independent over the next decade. Still, exactly what "energy independence" means is in dispute. -
A big reason for the slow recovery has been that the nation's battered banks haven't been able or willing to lend. There are signs that's changing and that bank lending is helping to support stronger growth.
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Joshua Redman nearly became a lawyer, but the pull of jazz was stronger. Redman's father was the famous saxophonist Dewey Redman, and the sounds of jazz inspired him to take up the sax himself at age 10.
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Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny stops by NPR's Washington studios for an hour of live music. Metheny, on tour for his latest CD, The Way Up, talks with John Ydstie and callers about his approach to songwriting. Metheny's new album is a single, long piece divided into four parts. -
NPR's John Ydstie talks to Eric Lutz, a legislative assistant in Washington, D.C., for the latest edition of the feature "What Are You Listening To?" Lutz's selections include Brazilian pop and two styles of jazz. -
Otis Taylor plays a style of music he calls "drone blues," a hypnotic, loosely-structured form of guitar meandering. A former antiques dealer, he writes lyrics based on themes of injustice informed by his love of history. Guest host John Ydstie speaks with Taylor about his new CD, Truth Is Not Fiction (Telarc Records, catalog # 83587).
