A Sharia-Based Economic and Financial Model

Raja Almarzoqi, a former advisor at the International Monetary Fund, is an economics faculty member at the Institute of Diplomatic Studies, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Thunderbird Global Business School and King Saud University. Raja was the Minister Plenipotentiary and the Head of the Monetary Union Unit for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States, a consultant to a number of financial institutions and government agencies, and a board member of several capital market funds. He has been a conference speaker and writer on a wide range of topics in economics.

Noureddine Krichene , PhD, earned a doctorate in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, US. He served at the International Monetary Fund, 1986-2009. He was also previously an advisor at the Islamic Development Bank, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2005-2007. His expertise covers international economics and finance, macroeconomic policies, and energy and water economics.

Walid Mansour is a Research Affiliate at the Islamic Economics Institute at King Abdulaziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was previously a research and teaching fellow at the University of Kansas, US, and has 10 years of teaching experience. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and the Occasional Lecturing Fund (OLF) from the US State Department. He has published in such journals as, The North-American Journal of Economics and Finance , The Journal of Islamic Studies , and the International Journal of Business .

This book scrutinizes the efficiency of the statist model of "Big Government". The authors develop policy prescriptions based on Sharia rules of laissez-faire economics and perfect competition within labour and capital markets. Chapters argue that economic conditions have become increasingly unmanageable in both advanced and developing countries where "Big Government" has become a stumbling block to private enterprise. The discussion explores the idea that the elimination of interest-based debt could result in fully balanced budgets, steady external trade, risk-sharing banking, stable capital markets, and deflation. The authors propose Sharia-based policy regimes for discussion and adoption, and suggest that reforms to government size, together with the liberalisation of labour and capital markets, may present a successful and sustainable alternative mode of government.

Postulates that Sharia-based government may provide a positive alternative to statist government

Chapter 1) Introduction: The Nature and Dangers of Statism.- Chapter 2) The Government from a Sharia Perspective.- Chapter 3) Sharia Laissez-Faire Model.- Chapter 4) Zakat: A Mandatory Redistributive Element of an Islamic Economic Model.- Chapter 5) Fiscal Policy from a Sharia Perspective.- Chapter 6) Nature of Money in Sharia.- Chapter 7) On the Nature of Inflationary Financing.- Chapter 8) On the Nature of Financial Repression.- Chapter 9) Sharia Banking and Financial Sector.- Chapter 10) A Fully Liberalized Labor Market.- Chapter 11) Sharia Free Trade and Foreign Exchange Policy.- Chapter 12) Growth Policy and Private Sector Development.