America's Most Extreme Rust Belt Collapse | Chris Briem

America's Most Extreme Rust Belt Collapse | Chris Briem

From The Aaron Renn Show by Aaron Renn

February 9, 2026 · 37 min

About this episode

Aaron Renn interviews economic historian Chris Briem about the dramatic industrial collapse of Pittsburgh and its implications for the future of cities and regions.

In this eye-opening conversation, Aaron sits down with economic historian Chris Bream, author of Beyond Steel: Pittsburgh and the Economics of Transformation to unpack one of the most dramatic industrial collapses in American history — and what it reveals about the future of cities, regions, and the country. Pittsburgh went from being the steel capital of the world to losing hundreds of thousands of jobs and people in just a few brutal years in the early 1980s. Chris explains why the collaps...

People in this episode

Host: Aaron Renn

Guest: Chris Briem

Topics covered

  • industrial collapse
  • economic history
  • urban transformation
  • Pittsburgh
  • job loss
  • regional economics

Keywords

  • Rust Belt
  • Pittsburgh
  • economic transformation
  • job loss
  • industrial history
  • Chris Briem
  • steel industry

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Beyond Steel: Pittsburgh and the Economics of Transformation

Places: Pittsburgh

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