I am currently senior economics contributor at Marketplace, American Public Media’s nationally syndicated public radio business and economic program. I’m also economics commentator for Minnesota Public Radio and host of its series Conversations on the Creative Economy as well as a columnist for PBS Next Avenue and the Star Tribune. I have published five books on personal finance and the economy including, most recently, Purpose and a Paycheck: Finding Meaning, Money, and Happiness is the Second Half of Life.
Journalism, Radio, and Television
I’ve had a varied career in journalism, a profession I love. For most of my career I wrote about economics, corporate finance, and personal finance for Bloomberg Businessweek. My articles on the economy, personal finance, and retirement have appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, New York Times, Kiplinger’s, and other publications.
As an economics correspondent for American Public Media’s long-form documentary unit, American RadioWorks, I collaborated on several projects, including “After the Projects,” “Pueblo USA,” and “Japan’s Pop Power.” From 1998 to 2003, I was host and executive editor of Right on the Money, a nationally syndicated personal finance program produced by TPT, the public television station in the Twin Cities.
Background
I earned an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and spent the following four years as a merchant seaman working in the engine room of ships. I worked on ships passing through the Suez and Panama canals, steaming past the Rock of Gibraltar under a full moon at midnight, and stopping in ports like Athens, Dubai, Subic Bay, and Yokosuka. The money I saved while at sea financed my graduate degree from the London School of Economics.
Most importantly, I’m the proud father of two sons, now grown men. I live in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Chris Farrell 