Maxime Marquette
MadMax is an independent bilingual news outlet based in Québec, publishing analysis on geopolitics, technology, democracy, and culture.
Our mission: rigorous, source-cited analysis carried out with full editorial independence — no sponsorship, no party line.
Our editorial standards: sources are cited inline, corrections are fixed and logged publicly, and any use of artificial intelligence is disclosed.
“Burn rather than rot. Write rather than stay silent.”
Fire first. Sentences after. No lukewarm takes.
Always answer the strongest version of the opposing point. No strawmen.
No commissioned pieces. No editorial masters. No compromise.
Columns by Maxime Marquette
4,540 columns published
The Eusko, France's Local Currency That Circulates Alongside the Euro
Many French people have no idea that, right within their own country, several complementary local currencies circulate alongside the euro, used every
The Zimbabwean 100-Trillion-Dollar Bill That Couldn't Even Buy Bread
Some numbers are so astronomical that they outstrip our ordinary powers of imagination, and the one-hundred-trillion Zimbabwean dollar note issued in 2008
The English Window Tax That Pushed Thousands to Brick Them Up
Few examples illustrate the direct influence of fiscal policy on a country's architecture as starkly as the window tax introduced in England
Barter never disappeared, it hides inside our modern exchange networks
Since primary school, we're often told the same simple story: before money was invented, human beings exchanged goods directly with one another,
DID YOU KNOW that the word "salary" comes from salt, but not how you think
Every month, millions of people receive their salary without ever wondering where this word, so ordinary in today's economic vocabulary, actually comes
In 1946, Hungary printed the biggest banknote ever seen
In 1946, in the aftermath of the Second World War, Hungary went through the most violent episode of hyperinflation ever measured in
In 1637, a Dutch tulip was worth the price of a house in Amsterdam
In the seventeenth century, the Dutch Republic experienced an economic golden age fueled by maritime trade and a thriving, prosperous urban bourgeoisie
On the island of Yap, money takes the shape of giant stone discs
On the island of Yap, in Micronesia, wealth is not hidden in a vault or a digital bank account: it stands out
This Madrid restaurant has served diners since 1725 without interruption
In a narrow street near Madrid's Plaza Mayor, a modest façade hides one of the oldest establishments in the entire history of