Does History Rhyme? Steel’s Economic Tale from 1929 to Today and the Future

Justin Hayden Miller (Global Trade lawyer) discusses steel - its history, its place in the 1929 Wall Street Crash, through to its future. 

The episode is published to coincide with the NASCC: The Steel Conference event in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 2, 2025, 

In particular, the episode addresses:

- The interwar period: between, WWI and WWII: the 1920s and the 1930s

- Jay-Z’s track $100 Bill, the lyrics of which concern the Roaring Twenties and the 1929 Wall Street Crash, with references to steel in the song.

- Comparisons between today’s economic events and those of the 1920s and 1930s

- The phrase: "History don’t repeat itself, but it rhymes”, attributed to Mark Twain

- The importance of steel as a commodity.  Steel commodity prices per ton and steel production in the1920s

- Reasons for the drop and crash in steel prices in 1929: buying “on the margin”

- Iconic buildings of the 1920s and 1930s using steel as architectural frames: the art deco New York Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building

- The importance of knowing as much about a product as possible, before advising on importation and Customs issues concerning it

- The sound of a train on steel tracks and similarities with movie Star Wars' sound effects

- Physical properties of steel

- The role of steel for any manned mission to Mars

- Steel used for spaceship components; Space X and Elon Musk’s Starship

- The composition of steel

- Stainless steel’s invention by Harry Brearley, and the story of stainless steel in Sheffield ("rustless steel”)

- Steel as a barometer of the world economy

- the current price of steel and oversupply

- US steel demand and tariffs

- European Union Steel Safeguard Measures: the EU Tariff Rate Quotes (TRQ) and Anti-Dumping tariffs

- An explanation of Absolute Quota Systems and Tariff Rate Quotes (TRQ), using analogies

- Trade Diversion and protective measures

- A comparison between the properties of steel and those of world and economic leaders

ARTISTIC REFERENCES:

$100 Bill (Song) Rap, Hip-Hop

Written by Jay-Z and Producer, Evan Mast.  

Written for the 2013 film adaptation The Great Gatsby.  

Recorded May 6, 2013. 

Label: Interscope. Produced by E. Vax.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4XP935ZDMy36SyYGB8wadP

The Great Gasby (movie) 2013

Directed by Baz Luhrmann; Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan.

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: May 1, 2013 (New York City)

Star Wars (Movie) 1977

Written and Directed by George Lucas. 

Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fischer, Peter Cushing and Alex Guinness

Distributed by 20th Century Fox

Release Date: May 2, 1977

CONTACT DETAILS:

Twitter: @JustinHaydenM

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-hayden-miller-7b2a695/

Email: PrivilegedDiscussions@gmail.com