Crain’s Chicago Business reports that many conventions at Chicago’s McCormick Place are drawing a lot fewer people this year. All of this comes just after McCormick Place completed another big expansion – was it really needed, or worth the expense? Costas Spirou is a professor of social science at National-Louis University in Chicago, and he says that Chicago’s economy has long depended on trade shows.

Music Button: Powerhouse Sound, “King to Crown Pt. 1”, from the CD Oslo/Chicago Breaks, (Atavistic records)