In recent decades enterprises that used new digital technology to sell information increased in importance. Some of these enterprises became among the most profitable enterprises in the world. Possession of information replaced to a large extent the possession of tangible commodities and capital to determine the market value of an enterprise. A new elite group of rich individuals was created. To a large extent that elite group acquired much influence, on both the economy and the politics of countries, because they could influence politicians and citizens. They could influence the work of regulators. Therefore, the main goal may have changed, from the need to control the state, as in the past, to that of controlling the market operations.

Beginning in the late 1970s, China’s economy produced the largest growth spurt in recorded history. This striking departure from the economic experience of the previous 200 years encourages onlookers to view recent economic success as a “miracle” that requires neither economic nor historical explanation. Such thinking ignores common elements that have shaped China’s long-term economic trajectory: forces propelling spurts of innovation and growth, restrictions that often impede these dynamic forces, and enduring features of China’s polity that generate tensions between centralized authoritarian power and economic growth. Neglect of these historical legacies invites misconceptions about the current boom’s origin and the economy’s likely future path. History and economics figure prominently in our analysis of both.

The collapse of MBA polities lays the Levant open to Egyptian domination. A network of elite estate dwellers maintains power through Egyptian patronage and participation in the exchange of women and valuable gifts, abandoning large parts of the countryside.

The collapse of MBA polities lays the Levant open to Egyptian domination. A network of elite estate dwellers maintains power through Egyptian patronage and participation in the exchange of women and valuable gifts, abandoning large parts of the countryside.