ABSTRACT
Andrew Carnegie is said to have established credit by starting with a very small loan, repaying on time without ever using the money, and doing this in ever-increasing amounts until his credit was practically unlimited. This in no way proved that Carnegie was dependable, but merely that he was clever. What he was doing was beating the credit system which in those days was based largely on references, a useful method in smaller populations. The heavy use of references had the advantage that it encouraged people to value their reputations, but it also led to nepotism and the belief that "it's not what you are that counts, but who you know." Young Andrew didn't know any influential people, so he did what he could.
