At risk as a small businessman since 1984, Barry Miller has accumulated a considerable personal library of history, business, and theology books. He began studying the biblical cycles of seven years and fifty years in 1991 as a means of improving his creativity and mitigating risk.

He subscribes to the idea that history does not repeat itself but it does rhyme and suggests historical and economic rhymes are most evident when considered in increments of 7 years and 50 years.