Direct Supply by Government Bureaus
The direct production of goods by government bureaus is as old as government
itself. Karl Wittfogel argues that the stimulus for the development of many
early civilizations in semiarid regions (e.g., Egypt, Mesopotamia, and parts of China
and India) came from the need to construct and manage water facilities collectively.
This, in tum, tended to generate direct government supply of nonhydraulic construction:
"under the conditions of Pharaonic Egypt and Inca Peru, direct management
prevailed.