The author, Xinran Xue, who uses the name Xinran as a nom de plume, is an old hand.

ECONOMIST: Oral history in China: Tales of old | The

The markets are hoping for Kiichi Miyazawa, an old hand who, as finance minister, was more than a match for the ministry.

ECONOMIST: Japan

The chief financial officer shook my hand as if I were an old friend.

NEWYORKER: The Cost Conundrum

The plan also involves parachuting in as chief executive of the Fiat parent company Enrico Bondi, an old Mediobanca hand who made his reputation turning round the Ferruzzi agro-chemicals business and, latterly, sorting out troubled Telecom Italia.

ECONOMIST: Fiat