The state is conceptually distinct from both economy and society, with inherent interests in expanding its scope for autonomous action, asserting control over economic and social interactions, and structuring economic and social relations. These interests derive primarily from the state’s...

This paper offers one Africanist’s perspective on the question (to paraphrase Patrick O’Brien) of how, where, when and why a sample of states encouraged or restrained economic growth from recurring. The last phrase places the focus where it belongs: the issue in Sub-Saharan economic history...