This chapter investigates the ground-level operations of American “country” banks—the smallest unit banks—between the 1870s and 1920s. Compared to larger banks, most country banks were poorly capitalized and poorly managed. Their survival largely rested on correspondent relations with city banks.

In 1952-1957, the People’s Republic of China’s China National Railways operated based on a marriage of convenience between the pre-revolutionary railway technical intelligentsia and the Communist Party of China (CCP). The railway technical intelligentsia governed the new state-owned railways, working as managers and engineers.