May 7, 2019
David Swenson, associate scientist, authored a guest commentary in The Conversation May 7, 2019, on the decline of micropolitan and rural counties in Iowa. This article was also carried by:
- The Telegraph
- Midland Reporter-Telegram
- The Edwardsville Intelligencer
- MyPlainview.com
- My Journal Courier
- Raw Story
- New Haven Register
- Greenwich Time
- Times Union
- Columbia Missourian
- Inverse
Swenson talked with:
- Scott McFetridge, Associated Press, about an essay Swenson wrote for The Conversation on rural decline and what it meant for northwest Iowa. McFetridge also asked about how economic developers and presidential candidates may respond to the decline.
- “The Morning Show with Kate Archer Kent” on Wisconsin Public Radio discussing the same issue of rural decline.
- Tom Cullen, Storm Lake Times, about the 2017 Ag Census and the degree of production concentration among the largest producers in Iowa.
- Angie Mehl, Carroll Times Herald about Carroll County and surrounding county population declines and what is causing them.
- WOI-TV reporter Brynn Carman about the impact of new tariffs on China.
- Randy Meyer, producer for the syndicated news show InfoTrak, about rural population decline. This was the result of an essay Swenson wrote for The Conversation.
- Iowa Public Radio’s “River to River” program to discuss rural decline. This resulted from an essay he wrote for The Conversation.
- Donnelle Eller, Des Moines Register, about whether the ongoing trade difficulties would produce similar negative results next year as estimated in an ISU/CARD report.
- Nancy LeTourneau, Washington Monthly, who quoted him, "We should get used to that and plan for it, Swenson says. His colleagues in Extension are doing a Shrink Smart program that helps communities transition into maturity. It strikes us as hospice for rural America — give us an IV drip to keep the sewer and water systems in repair, and give us a hospital nearby and a nursing home, and let nature sort of take its course. Not everyone can be saved. Let’s make them comfortable places, as rural Iowa mainly is. Seek stability. Hoping on growth can be futile."
- Lydia DePillis, economy reporter for CNN Business, about the types of counties that have not recovered from the Great Recession (the interview was based on Swenson’s recent essay for The Conversation).