Damian Paletta named Washington Post’s new economic editor

Damian Paletta has been appointed the Washington Post’s new economic editor.

Paletta joins the editing team after spending several years at The Post as one of the country’s leading writers covering the White House and economic policy. Since joining The Post in early 2017, he has broken major stories about the Trump era — government shutdowns, tax reform and the trade war — while providing distinct insights into the unconventional approach of this administration.

Those stories included a piece just last week on how Trump is increasingly ignoring advice from his aides on the trade war, a deep look at regulators’ struggles to come to grips with the boom in leveraged lending and a scoop about Trump’s efforts to push the Postal Service to double rates on Amazon.

He also found time to write compelling enterprise stories on and off his beat, including a series of stories last year about the economic underpinnings of American holidays. Features ranged from a profile of the sour labor feud at Pennsylvania’s Peeps factory to an investigation into the Chinese businessman who controls much of the world’s fireworks supply.

Palette, who spent 11 years reporting for The Wall Street Journal, lives in Alexandria with his wife and two children.

He starts his new job Sept. 3.