Societies and citizens all benefit from informal economic activity, notwithstanding its precarity and irregularity, and its expansion in moments of economic crisis. Informal economy is not new; its finds its roots in the oldest, most basic economic arrangements known to man. Current interest in the informal economy stems from fundamental questions of state-society relations: what role should the state play in the governance and stimulus of economic activity? States and citizens are increasingly aware of the need to reduce debt and dependence by increasing domestic savings and for increasing economic self-reliance and micro-level empowerment. However, the current explosion of black and gray market activity is alarming, ranging from trafficking and smuggling of all kinds to off-the-books economics in every sector of every economy. How should states and citizens view these phenomena, as signs of strength and opportunities of empowerment or as symptoms of crisis and aberrations to be criminalized and eradicated or gradually controlled and eliminated. Informal economics reflects the majority or plurality of work in every Maghreb state according to even the most conservative estimates, encompassing over 90% of economic activity in some urban environments, but how to address it remains a conundrum for every Maghribi state. Based on fieldwork and research in five local languages spread over 26 years in all five Maghribi states, including over 3000 interviews and conversations with informal economic sector actors in a variety of academic and non-governmental capacities, this paper attempts will endeavor answer the question, is the informal sector a sign of neoliberal failure, or could it help provide the solution. New fieldwork has been organized to four of the five Maghrib countries in the coming months, and with Libyans in Tunisia, to gather new data and engage in further interviews with economic sector actors. The paper examines and assesses a vast array of economic, political science, and anthropological literature on informal economics, include qualitative and quantitative household economic surveys by international organizations and NGOs, in an attempt to redefine informal economics and its role within changing political and cultural systems. The notion of a “civilian popular economy” is analyzed. Phenomena as diverse as self-immolation (over 400 self-immolations have occurred since the Arab spring) to increasing non-state control of local “taxation” and regulation will be considered. Case studies will be offered in informal housing, transportation, finance and trade. Implications for local, national and international strategies will be discussed.