Palace economy

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A palace economy or redistribution economy is a system of economic organisation in which a substantial share of the wealth flows into the control of a centralized secular administration, the palace, and out from there to the general population, which may be allowed its own sources of income, but relies heavily on the wealth redistributed by the palace.

Ancient

Many pre-industrial civilizations practised economies that fit this economic model.

Chinese in the Chou Age

Sumerian

Egyptian

Minoan

Mycenaean

Hittite

Phrygian

Iranian in the Achaemenid period

Middle

Aztec

Inca

Modern

The contemporary economy of North Korea has also been characterized as a palace economy. It is entirely state-controlled, and so inefficient that the country depends on foreign aid for the survival of its population.

Notes

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Last updated on Sunday January 06, 2008 at 11:11:09 PST (GMT -0800)
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