David Goldman
David Goldman is a senior business reporter at CNN who specializes in explaining complex economic and financial stories in clear, practical terms, with a consistent focus on how they affect ordinary people’s money and daily lives. His coverage spans television, digital, video and audio, and he is closely associated with recurring explanatory franchises that turn abstract data into concrete takeaways. He concentrates on the consumer economy, inflation, debt, markets and investing, tying each topic back to the prices people pay and the decisions they make.
Make It Make Sense on the consumer economy
Goldman fronts recurring “Make It Make Sense” segments on CNN’s The Situation Room, where he breaks down economic headlines into simple narratives about what is happening to consumer spending and confidence.
In one segment, he explains why Americans are still spending at a high rate even as sentiment measures show they feel pessimistic, connecting survey data to actual behavior at the cash register. In another, he uses examples as basic as old underwear and lipstick to walk through unconventional economic indicators and what they reveal about the risk of a downturn.
He has devoted extended coverage to why houses are so expensive, outlining how declining new home sales, limited supply and high borrowing costs combine to make homeownership harder to afford. His work on back-to-school season quantifies how much more parents can expect to pay for supplies and clothing, framing price increases in terms of real family budgets rather than abstract inflation statistics.
On energy, he analyzes oil and gas prices in segments that examine what would have to happen for fuel costs to fall, and he tests political promises about sharp drops in prices against the structure of global energy markets.
Inflation, debt and central bank decisions
Goldman regularly focuses on inflation and the cost of living, explaining why prices keep rising faster than wages for lower- and middle-income Americans and how spending by wealthier households can keep overall inflation elevated. He has written analysis on America’s debt problem, arguing that the country cannot simply grow its way out of rising obligations and highlighting how bond markets, interest costs and slower growth constrain policymakers. His coverage of the Federal Reserve looks at how political and market pressure pushed the Fed into hiking interest rates, and at the dangers if those decisions overshoot and damage the economy.
Across these stories he ties macroeconomic policy to concrete outcomes such as mortgage rates, credit-card costs and government borrowing, aiming to show what major decisions mean for household finances.
Investing and financial literacy across platforms
Goldman reports on investing in a way that emphasizes simple, repeatable strategies, including a segment on Warren Buffett that distills Buffett’s approach into a straightforward framework for long-term wealth building. He appears in CNN 10’s “Make it Make Cents” series, joining Coy Wire to break down how the stock market works and using real-life comparisons so new investors can understand what indexes, shares and volatility mean in practice. His video work also covers the bond market, where he explains how movements in yields and bond prices translate into changes in borrowing costs and investment returns for consumers.
Taken together, these projects position him as one of CNN’s main voices on financial literacy, tasked with turning markets coverage into accessible guidance for viewers and listeners who are not financial professionals.
Business leadership and international reach
Goldman holds a senior reporting role at CNN focused on the biggest business and economic news stories of the day, and he works across television, digital, video and social platforms to deliver that coverage. He previously served as executive editor of CNN’s business coverage, overseeing global business and financial newsgathering and production for the network’s digital and linear audiences. His “Make It Make Sense” segments on The Situation Room and his appearance in CNN 10’s financial literacy series show how he moves between flagship political programs, explainer series and educational content while keeping a consistent explanatory voice.
His analyses and explainers are republished across CNN’s international editions, including Portuguese-language platforms such as CNN Brasil, extending his consumer-focused business reporting to audiences beyond the English-language network.
4 more finance journalists.
Abigail Summerville
Abigail Summerville brings a leveraged finance background to her work covering consumer and retail mergers and acquisitions for Reuters. She reports on deal-making and capital markets across food, beverages, spirits, personal care, skincare, bath products and pet food. Her stories focus on transaction terms, ownership stakes, valuation, debt structures and funding sources. She often breaks news on potential sales and strategic reviews before formal announcements. Notable coverage includes Sazerac’s acquisition of Au Vodka, Blackstone’s exploration of a ZO Skin Health sale, CVC’s efforts to sell the parent of Dr Teal’s, and Colgate-Palmolive’s planned divestitures. She also covers consumer IPOs, including Jersey Mike’s and Black Rock Coffee, and co-writes Wall Street market reports. She joined Reuters in 2022 after three years covering leveraged finance and primary debt markets.
Adekunle Agbetiloye
Adekunle Agbetiloye is a senior reporter who connects capital flows, hard numbers and energy transition to the wider African economy. He works at Business Insider Africa, covering how money, technology and energy reshape economic growth, jobs and living conditions. His beat spans the African economy, technology, energy transition, climate change, startups and critical minerals, with a focus on concrete deals and data-led stories. He reports on African startup funding cycles, sovereign wealth funds, billionaire investors, multilateral and private investment programs, energy and power markets, Bitcoin mining, and economic policy choices. His work follows how governments finance spending, manage debt and respond to social pressure, and how sector snapshots and health and development metrics reveal links between macro indicators, corporate strategy and everyday costs.
Aimee Picchi
Aimee Picchi connects Social Security, retirement programs and economic policy directly to the financial security of ordinary Americans, showing how macro decisions hit household budgets. She is associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch at CBS News, covering business and personal finance with clear, accessible explanations of complex money issues. Her core beat is Social Security and retirement, interest rates and inflation, and how policy, markets and company strategies affect workers, retirees, savers and investors. She reports on benefit adequacy, looming Social Security cuts, COLA changes, Federal Reserve rate decisions, fuel costs, trade tensions and labor’s share of income, always framing coverage around pocketbook impacts. Her background includes retirement reporting fellowships, prior staff reporting on technology, media and business, an Institutional Investor book on affluent investors, and freelance work for national outlets. She also writes science fiction and fantasy and is a Nebula Award finalist.
Alex Harring
Alex Harring turns fast-moving market, economic and corporate developments into clear pre-market briefings that show what will matter when U.S. trading opens. He is a markets and economics reporter for CNBC’s digital platforms and writes Morning Squawk, a flagship daily newsletter that gives readers five key things to know before the stock market opens. His beat spans financial markets, investing, consumer trends and the U.S. economy, with coverage of central bank decisions, inflation, corporate strategy, sector moves and geopolitical shocks. He focuses on how policy, data and earnings shape equities, interest rates, currencies and investor positioning, linking price action with underlying drivers in real time and in reported features. Harring’s background reporting on corporate news, business and the economy across print, digital, broadcast and streaming informs his habit of connecting markets, companies and geopolitics in one frame.