Adam Davidson
Adam Davidson is a contributor to Planet Money, a co-production of NPR and This American Life. He also writes the weekly "It's the Economy" column for the New York Times Magazine.
His work has won several major awards including the Peabody, DuPont-Columbia, and the Polk. His radio documentary on the housing crisis, "The Giant Pool of Money," which he co-reported and produced with Alex Blumberg, was named one of the top ten works of journalism of the decade by the Arthur L. Carter of Journalism Institute at New York University. It was widely recognized as the clearest and most entertaining explanation of the roots of the financial crisis in any media.
Davidson and Blumberg took the lessons they learned crafting "The Giant Pool of Money" to create Planet Money. In two weekly podcasts, a blog, and regular features on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and This American Life, Planet Money helps listeners understand how dramatic economic change is impacting their lives. Planet Money also proves, every day, that substantive, intelligent economic reporting can be funny, engaging, and accessible to the non-expert.
Before Planet Money, Davidson was International Business and Economics Correspondent for NPR. He traveled around the world to cover the global economy and pitched in during crises, such as reporting from Indonesia's Banda Aceh just after the tsunami, New Orleans post-Katrina, and Paris during the youth riots.
Prior to coming to NPR, Davidson was Middle East correspondent for PRI's Marketplace. He spent a year in Baghdad, Iraq, from 2003 to 2004, producing award-winning reports on corruption in the US occupation.
Davidson has also written for The Atlantic, Harper's, GQ, Rolling Stone, and many other magazines. He has a degree in the history of religion from the University of Chicago.
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After being closed for two weeks, the Port of New Orleans reopens for limited operations. The port did not suffer heavy damage, but there hasn't been any electricity and many port workers no longer have homes. -
The Chinese oil company CNOOC says it has abandoned its controversial attempt to buy Unocal, a California-based oil producer. CNOOC says a hostile political environment doomed its bid. Chevron is expected to purchase Unocal next week.
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China bows to international pressure and announces it will revalue its currency. The yuan will be revalued by 2.1 percent, less than what the United States wanted and perhaps not enough to satisfy congressional critics who want protectionist measures to stem the flow of Chinese imports. The Yuan will now be pegged to a basket of international currencies.
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Thursday's bombings in London came as the Group of Eight industrialized nations began its annual meeting. The G8 leaders agreed Friday to increase aid to Africa by $50 billion. That increase will take place by 2010, and is a doubling of foreign aid for some countries, including the United States.
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China's growing appetite for energy may be driving the bid for Unocal by the country's third-largest oil company. But it may take Wall Street's appetite for cash to drive home the deal's acceptance in the United States.
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The Bush Administration decides to bring a trade case against the European Union at the World Trade Organization. The administration says the EU is providing illegal subsidies to airplane manufacturer Airbus. The EU calls the U.S. decision "disappointing."
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Treasury Secretary John Snow issues a strongly worded report that urges China to revalue its currency, the yuan. For 10 years, the Chinese currency has been kept at a fixed rate, making it cheaper to export items -- and more difficult for U.S. manufacturers to compete.
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In its semi-annual report to Congress, the Treasury Department urges China to overhaul its currency system. Critics accuse Beijing of keeping the value of the yuan artificially low to boost exports.
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News drives the currency markets, so the traders at Global FX reacted quickly when the latest unemployment numbers were released Friday. Owner Andrew Spanton trains currency traders, but most won't make the cut.
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With the expiration of apparel quotas, China is expected to dominate the world T-shirt market. Many of those T-shirts are sewn in factories in and around Shanghai, China's busiest and fastest-growing city.
