Being in the government has been the way to get rich in the Arab lands forever.

Reader comment on: The Islamic State Versus Free Enterprise

Submitted by Lyle (United States), Oct 26, 2014 23:26

I was reading that in the Abbisiad times working for the central government was the way to get rich. In that case much more than the way in western Europe where land was the way. (Part was that the roman tax system did not break down). More detail is avalable about the Byzantine empire where business was so regulated that different commodities could only be sold in defined spaces. So ISIS is indeed following in the footsteps of the 9th century caliphs.

Note that a bit later in egypt a number of commodities were so important that the state handled them.

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