Economy

Dillan Vancil, Republican Candidate for Congress in Illinois' 17th District, talks about why he's running, his background and experience, key issues facing voters in the district, and why he's the better candidate to face incumbent Eric Sorenson.

Jim talks with Beth Richardson, Canadian Counsul General in Minneapolis, about the increasing tension between the US and Canada. Jim also talks with Joseph Patrick Dooley of the St. Patrick Society of the Quad Cities about the St. Patricks Grand Parade that spans Rock Island and Davenport.

Jared Abbott, director of the Center for Working Class Politics, talks about the realignment of working class voters to the Republicans and Trump, how Democrats can win them back, the importance of proper messaging and language, the tie between economic and cultural issues, and presidential candidates with the most appeal to working class voters.

Brian Reisinger, author of Land Rich, Cash Poor, talks about the US ag economy, the impact of tariffs and globalization, bailout funding, foreign purchases of US land, impact of immigration restrictions, the latest on the Farm Bill, fewer heirs taking over farms, and the political impact of the slumping farm economy in this year's midterm elections.

Josh Higgins, Republican candidate for the 94th State Representative in Illinois, talks about his candidacy, his background, key issues, and much more.

The city of Moline is continuing to transform itself, according to an optimistic “State of the City” address given Monday morning, February 2nd, by Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati.

Timothy Wu, professor at Columbia Law School and former White Houseadvisor on tech and competition policy, talks about his new book, The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity. We discuss the initial promise of the Internet and what went wrong, how tech platforms choked off competition, platform power in health care and housing, the role of "couch lock" and convenience in creating dependency, whether AI will break platform monopoly power or extend it, the implications for our economy and democracy, and recommendations on how to address platform monopoly power.

Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC), seven manufacturers, and Grow Quad Cities are forming a new chapter of the Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME), the first in Iowa. Grow Quad Cities Vice President of Business Retention, Expansion, and Workforce, Chris Caves, said Riverbend FAME’s focus is on a single occupation: manufacturing maintenance technicians.

The Quad Cities Community Foundation announced Tuesday, December 16th, that the Quad Cities Housing Council (QCHC) will receive its 2025 Transformation Grant ($300,000 over three years), in support of the region’s first large-scale, multi-agency affordable housing development initiative.

A retired Army colonel is the new executive director of a new partnership between the Rock Island Arsenal Defense Alliance (RIADA) and Quad Cities Manufacturing Institute (QCMI).