An example is e-Chemicals, which brokers 55-gallon drums of manufacturing chemicals between suppliers like DuPont and those thousands of heavy manufacturers dotting the Rust Belt. n Connecting "wide-thin" markets.

FORBES: Digital rules

Ohioans have long had a soft spot for heavy metal, which became more popular when the U.S. Rust Belt lost its manufacturing clout in the 1980s, scholars say.

WSJ: Heady Metal: Scholars Celebrate a Rock Genre's Cultural Bang

Once a center of heavy industry under China's planned economy, Shenyang decayed and formed part of the country's rust belt in the 1990s.

NPR: Chinese Bomb Victim Went To Elite School In China