Before the IMF : The economic implications of unintentional structural adjustment in ancient egypt

"Debate about states and markets in the Bronze Age world has directed attention away from their roles and thus away from the way these economies functioned. The ancient Egyptian state assigned fields to its dependents and stimulated demand by spending and taxation. Markets and market forces were responsible for the allocation and distribution of materials in the ancient Near East from the end of the third millennium. Growth did not result from technological improvement or market competition so much as from demand stimulus, as in the modern world, suggesting that demand is more important than supply."