Bruce Springsteen recorded “My Hometown” in 1983. By the time I heard the song, I had seen for myself what he was singing about.
I was familiar with the harmful competitive effect shopping malls had upon downtown storefronts in the 70’s. What I saw on in the 80’s, during my business travels to Ohio and Illinois, were formerly thriving company towns struggling with unemployment. I was reminded of the textile mill towns back home that had been devastated by the mills moving to Southern states.
What happened to the once mighty American steel industry, that declined so rapidly in the 80’s? Were foreign governments dumping steel on the market for less than the cost of production? Or were foreign competitors making steel more efficiently, while American steel manufacturers had failed to innovate?
There’s a comment at the end of the podcast, about the steel industry showing up in pop culture. Big Steel’s influence extended all the way to a galaxy far, far away.