Lydia DePillis

I am a reporter for The New York Times, and I cover the American economy.

What I Cover

I pay close attention to all kinds of data and research that tell us about the health of the U.S. economy, what’s going on with American workers and businesses, and how they’re affected by public policy. To understand what that means on the ground, I often travel to meet people where they are, whether it’s the scene of a recent forest fire or a university contending with shrinking enrollment.

I’m particularly fascinated by the ways in which climate change is warping everything from agriculture to the financial system, the shifting bargaining power of American labor, and why cities and regions grow or shrink.

While most of my work is explanatory, I also consider it part of my job to expose wrongdoing and hold power to account.

My Background

I’ve been a journalist since 2003, when I started writing for my high school newspaper in Seattle, and turned professional after graduating from college in 2009 with a major in history.

Since then, I’ve covered beats that helped me understand the many corners of the economy: real estate and land use at The Washington City Paper, technology at The New Republic, labor and finance at The Washington Post, and the energy industry at The Houston Chronicle. I first handled the national economy while writing for CNN, and then learned investigative techniques covering federal agencies at the nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica.

I joined The Times in 2022, and I live in Queens.

Journalistic Ethics

As a Times journalist, I share the values and adhere to the standards of integrity outlined in The Times’s Ethical Journalism handbook. The guiding principle in my work is to maintain an open mind. That means carefully assessing the data, interrogating popular narratives, interviewing people with a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives, and consciously accounting for my own biases. I also obsess over accuracy. I make every effort to ensure everything I report is true, but if there is an error, I ensure corrections are made quickly and completely. I do not directly trade individual stocks, have personal relationships with the people I cover, or accept compensation of any kind from interest groups.

Tell me how you’re doing financially and what stories you think we should write about the economy; share your thoughts here.

• Email: [email protected]

• X: @lydiadepillis

• Signal: 202-913-3717

• LinkedIn: Lydia DePillis

• Anonymous tips: nytimes.com/tips