I think the Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa are the exception to the rule
Probably is true. In a related note....a former neighbor of mine was from Jordan. We became sociable and would have occasional BBQs etc.
One day his wife was complaining that her sewing machine was broken. It just so happen that a few weeks earlier I saw a sign in town advertising "sewing machine repair" (it stuck in my mind since its sort of a niche shop to have).
I mentioned this to her and he was blown away. He mentioned that only in America could you find such specialization. In Jordan, you could find some handyman that might be able to fix it, but no one would go to the lengths to specialize in something as narrow as "sewing machine repair".
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Nice anecdote, thanks for sharing
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I think specialization is a feature of an advanced economy ever since David Ricardo wrote about comparative advantage.
What was your neighbor occupation?
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Owned a pizza restaurant. It was very good Neapolitan-style. He actually taught me quite a bit about dough making.
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Very cool
Interesting fact about Jordan: it is a Palestinian state. 60 to 70 percent of Jordan is Palestinian.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @freetx 26 May
Yes, at the time I knew him I was a "lapsed" catholic.
Since that time I've re-read the bible a few times. Turns out Jesus was baptized by John The Baptist in the Jordan River.
The strange history is that he was born a Muslim, who converted to Christianity when he met his wife (she was Lebanese). During his conversion he started studying Christianity / Rome / etc. This led him becoming fascinated with authentic pizza....
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Lebanon 🇱🇧 has an interesting history.
Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East
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