David Swenson, associate scientist, gave a presentation at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago conference on The Downturn in Agriculture: Implications for the Midwest and the Future of Farming on Nov. 29, 2016. The goals of the conference included understanding key trends in farm income, product prices, and input costs; assessing the primary factors behind the sector’s downturn; examining policies that provide support to farm operations and promote risk management; and discussing the role of agricultural lending under these challenging circumstances, as well as in the next phase for agriculture.
Swenson's presentation, "The Impacts of the Agricultural Downturn on Communities and Rural Economies in the Chicago Fed Region," was one of four sessions, each featuring two or three speakers who explored the agricultural downturn’s implications for both the farm sector and the broader regional economy.
Swenson was also interviewed at the conference by Clifton Griffiths, AgDay, on community and regional impacts of sharply reduced ag profits.
Other interviews were with Tom Noller, WHO Radio, about the move for a $15 minimum wage. Swenson explained that $15 was a future goal in most instances–an end point to a systematic and incremental increase in the current minimum wage that is less than half that amount in most states.
He was also interviewed on the Trent Rice Show, KASI. The conversation was on boosting the minimum wage, recent GDP growth, and the relationship between automation and job loss.