Crain's Chicago Business

American democracy is fragile, and unless care is taken it could follow the path of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. That was the somewhat jaw-dropping bottom line of Barack Obama in a Q&A session before the Economic Club of Chicago, the Chicagoan who used to be president dropped a bit of red meat to a hometown crowd that likely is a lot closer to him than the man whose name never was mentioned: President Donald Trump. The US has survived tough times before and will again, he noted, particularly mentioning the days of communist fighter Joseph McCarthy and former President Richard Nixon.

[Commentary] The proposed mega-merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media would create the nation's largest television broadcast company in history, reaching over 70 percent of households nationwide.