David Kestenbaum

Credit Steve Barrett

David Kestenbaum is a correspondent for NPR, covering science, energy issues and, most recently, the global economy for NPR's multimedia project Planet Money. David has been a science correspondent for NPR since 1999. He came to journalism the usual way — by getting a Ph.D. in physics first.

In his years at NPR, David has covered science's discoveries and its darker side, including the Northeast blackout, the anthrax attacks and the collapse of the New Orleans levees. He has also reported on energy issues, particularly nuclear and climate change.

David has won awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

David worked briefly on the show This American Life, and set up a radio journalism program in Cambodia on a Fulbright fellowship. He also teaches a journalism class at Johns Hopkins University.

David holds a bachelor's of science degree in physics from Yale University and a doctorate in physics from Harvard University.

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Planet Money
10:30 am
Tue May 8, 2012

Nobel Laureate: 'I've Been Wrong So Often, I Don't Find It Extraordinary At All'

Credit University of Chicago
"I'm 101 at the moment," Ronald Coase said.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 4:07 pm

I recently had a brief conversation with Ronald Coase.

"I'm 101 at the moment," he told me. "I get older by the minute."

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Planet Money
11:49 pm
Thu April 26, 2012

When Should A Country Abandon Its Own Money?

Credit Jesse Garrison / Flickr
Enough already with the krona?

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 9:16 am

Iceland is a tiny nation in a big financial mess. It's still recovering from the aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis, which caused a domestic banking collapse.

Its currency, the krona, is also in really bad shape. That's led Icelanders to pose an existential currency question: Should they abandon the krona?

One key problem is size. Iceland has about as many people as Staten Island, so there just aren't that many people on the planet who need to use the krona.

"There are more people using Disney dollars," says Arsaell Valfells, an Icelandic economist.

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Planet Money
1:56 am
Thu March 22, 2012

From Abe Lincoln To Donald Duck: History Of The Income Tax

Planet Money
9:01 pm
Wed March 14, 2012

China's Giant Pool Of Dollars

Originally published on Thu March 15, 2012 8:08 am

China's central bank is sitting on a giant pool of U.S. dollars. It's the world's biggest holder of foreign reserves, worth over $3 trillion at last count.

All that money has piled up because every year, China exports more than it imports; it runs a trade surplus.

There are lots of reasons for China's trade surplus. In the past few decades, China has built an amazing manufacturing ecosystem. It's become the factory to the world.

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Planet Money
12:38 pm
Mon February 27, 2012

From Cell Phones To Cigarettes: The Long Arm Of The Chinese Government

Credit Ed Jones / AFP/Getty Images
How many government-owned businesses do you see in this picture?

The streets of Beijing and Shanghai feel like an entrepreneurial free-for-all, full of mom-and-pop stores and street vendors selling snacks and cheap toys.

But when you pull back the curtain, you see a different picture: a country where the government still controls huge swaths of the economy.

When you're in China, there's a good chance you're doing business with the government every time you:

  • make a call on your cellphone (the government owns the country's biggest cellphone network)
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