RUST BELT NOUN (BUSINESS WORLD)

Colloquially in the US, the declining industrial heartland of the Midwest and North-East United States, especially the former steel-producing areas such as Pittsburgh. Etymology: Humorously formed by compounding: a belt or zone where once-profitable industry (in particular the metals industry) is left to rust away. History and Usage: The coinage of the term is often attributed to US Democratic politician Walter Mondale, who opposed Ronald Reagan in the presidential election of 1984. Attacking Mr Reagan's economic policies, Mr Mondale said His...policies are turning our great industrial Midwest and the industrial base of this...country...into a rust bowl. This was picked up in the media and repeated as Rust Belt. Although Mr Mondale's presidential campaign was unsuccessful, the plight of the American Rust Belt remained a political issue in the US. The term is often used attributively. We might look upon the glory of our Rust Belt states, where there are hundreds of vast steel mills that are at least 40 years out of date and also spew smoke that causes acid rain. New York Times Book Review 29 Oct. 1989, p. 48