The Economist ~ Recovery plan succeeds.
Day 863, 13:51
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Published in United Kingdom 
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by
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by Spite313
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Dear friends,
I am just writing a rather brief article about the current state of the economy, the effects our stimulus plan has had, and to respond to some of the concerns raised by our citizens of late.
First of all, our economy is doing very well, as is our treasury income. Despite reducing taxes and lowering our benchmark values, tax income has stabilised. This essentially means our economy has grown by somewhere in the region of 6-10%, despite us losing thousands of active citizens over the same period. Player retention has always been hit and go in the UK, and though we reached a peak just before the invasion of around 3500 active citizens daily in our economy, we are now reduced to around 2100. This loss has equated into a smaller economy, and one with less tax income, but a much healthier one.
Prices are rising now, which is good for us. They aren’t however rising too fast to make us uncompetitive. They are rising unevenly for now because increased demand is limited to wellness-related sectors. This makes wages for things like food and housing very high. However it also means that those sectors not linked to wellness, such as weapons, moving tickets and so on are forced to compete with food in the job market. Similarly in other countries high wood prices have forced up grain wages. Ultimately, although one sector may lead for a while, it has an effect on the whole economy.
The problem with wellness which has been brought up (new citizens slowly dying) is an important one. The game is now harder. You can’t just not log in for a week and expect the recovery to be easy. This is a tactic employed by all online games to encourage people to play as often as possible. Working in low skills without a house is very bad for ones health. Back in the pre-hospital change days we told citizens to save their level 6 gold. Now it is wise to use that gold to purchase a house. At the minute house prices are very high because demand for the existing construction workers (who are the smallest sector) is very high, and so wage costs are driving up price. This will change in V2 as skills are redistributed and many will choose to work in the lucrative housing industry.
In the mean time our advice to new citizens is to use all gold to buy the best house you can afford. Most citizens will get 10 gold in the first 30 days in medals, provided they log in every day. Suffering til then is the only viable option. Remember too that buying a house is an investment. When you upgrade your house you will be able to sell your old one on, like a part-exchange. At least, that is, until V2, when things may be different.
Inflation is something which has been mentione
In a final response to the article mentioned above- the UK is not overproducing. Overproduction (or more accurately underconsumption) results in a steady drop in prices as goods are left unsold. The very high prices you lament are the result of very high demand, caused by consumption. We are consuming at a faster rate than we are producing. Our stockpiles of food, once in the thousands, have been completely eaten up and prices are rocketing. Worrying about international competitiveness in markets with rocketing prices makes no sense whatsoever. They are rocketing because of huge demand, and if high prices forces demand abroad then that is a natural pressure valve system in any market. By the way, I notice that you said I am a follower of Hayek?! Since my last article was a huge denunciation of both his politics and economics I suggest you need to do your research Melophore!
I say this to you now without a shred of dishonesty, glib words or evasion: You’ve never had it so good.
Yes it will take our citizens a while to get on top of the new, more difficult rules. We will try to help them by regulating wellness sectors, and I will look to establish a government second hand house dealership to help with prices. However the high consumption and rising wages is nothing but good for our citizens. I can’t see where you get the idea that now, after the longest period of depression in eRepublik history, you think the economy is going to crash. All the figures, information and experience I possess says the opposite.
Anyway, I hope that this article has dismissed some of the myths which seem to be going around, and wish you all happy spending, and a good Easter break.
Best wishes,
Iain Keers
Dear friends,
I am just writing a rather brief article about the current state of the economy, the effects our stimulus plan has had, and to respond to some of the concerns raised by our citizens of late.
First of all, our economy is doing very well, as is our treasury income. Despite reducing taxes and lowering our benchmark values, tax income has stabilised. This essentially means our economy has grown by somewhere in the region of 6-10%, despite us losing thousands of active citizens over the same period. Player retention has always been hit and go in the UK, and though we reached a peak just before the invasion of around 3500 active citizens daily in our economy, we are now reduced to around 2100. This loss has equated into a smaller economy, and one with less tax income, but a much healthier one.
Prices are rising now, which is good for us. They aren’t however rising too fast to make us uncompetitive. They are rising unevenly for now because increased demand is limited to wellness-related sectors. This makes wages for things like food and housing very high. However it also means that those sectors not linked to wellness, such as weapons, moving tickets and so on are forced to compete with food in the job market. Similarly in other countries high wood prices have forced up grain wages. Ultimately, although one sector may lead for a while, it has an effect on the whole economy.
The problem with wellness which has been brought up (new citizens slowly dying) is an important one. The game is now harder. You can’t just not log in for a week and expect the recovery to be easy. This is a tactic employed by all online games to encourage people to play as often as possible. Working in low skills without a house is very bad for ones health. Back in the pre-hospital change days we told citizens to save their level 6 gold. Now it is wise to use that gold to purchase a house. At the minute house prices are very high because demand for the existing construction workers (who are the smallest sector) is very high, and so wage costs are driving up price. This will change in V2 as skills are redistributed and many will choose to work in the lucrative housing industry.
In the mean time our advice to new citizens is to use all gold to buy the best house you can afford. Most citizens will get 10 gold in the first 30 days in medals, provided they log in every day. Suffering til then is the only viable option. Remember too that buying a house is an investment. When you upgrade your house you will be able to sell your old one on, like a part-exchange. At least, that is, until V2, when things may be different.
Inflation is something which has been mentione
😛however apparently those mentioning it have used the games own figures as a measure of inflation. This is a bad idea. By my own calculations the cost of Q2 food in gold has increased by a third and the cost of Q3 food has doubled. However at the same time wages for skill three have increased by 150% and skill 4 by three times. Construction skills are even more pronounced in the wage jump. Yes citizens can’t afford 5 Q1 guns a day- they never could at such a low skill. I was eight months old before I earned enough to be able to buy five guns and food per day. That’s how the game works. You can’t even produce 5 Q1s worth of guns a day (plus the cost of the iron) until you’re at skill 8 or 9.
In a final response to the article mentioned above- the UK is not overproducing. Overproduction (or more accurately underconsumption) results in a steady drop in prices as goods are left unsold. The very high prices you lament are the result of very high demand, caused by consumption. We are consuming at a faster rate than we are producing. Our stockpiles of food, once in the thousands, have been completely eaten up and prices are rocketing. Worrying about international competitiveness in markets with rocketing prices makes no sense whatsoever. They are rocketing because of huge demand, and if high prices forces demand abroad then that is a natural pressure valve system in any market. By the way, I notice that you said I am a follower of Hayek?! Since my last article was a huge denunciation of both his politics and economics I suggest you need to do your research Melophore!
I say this to you now without a shred of dishonesty, glib words or evasion: You’ve never had it so good.
Yes it will take our citizens a while to get on top of the new, more difficult rules. We will try to help them by regulating wellness sectors, and I will look to establish a government second hand house dealership to help with prices. However the high consumption and rising wages is nothing but good for our citizens. I can’t see where you get the idea that now, after the longest period of depression in eRepublik history, you think the economy is going to crash. All the figures, information and experience I possess says the opposite.
Anyway, I hope that this article has dismissed some of the myths which seem to be going around, and wish you all happy spending, and a good Easter break.
Best wishes,
Iain Keers
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Comments
Great article!
Voted
Good article.
I see my article prompted a quick response 😉
Guess all this mobilization is flattering considering I only get a maximum of ten readers per article, if I'm lucky !
I don't know, I'm not convinced, I think prices have easily gone up as much as wages. The overall health of the population is getting lower.
Maybe I'm a bad manager, I spent all my weekly profits to keep the poorest of my staff above 40 wellness. This is true in my companie, but also true of new staff coming in... And it also true in other companies...
I like you Keers, you're a clever guy. I'm just saying that the worsening of people's health is something we would see under a right-side government.
I really hope your strategy will work out. Except something has to be done about healthcare. If productivity drops to low, companies fail to profit.
I have a skill 4 player that I bailed out for about 40 GBP, who at skill 4 couldn't even produce one Q1 weapon. What do you advise ? That I fire him because he can't afford to remain healthy ? He is earning more than the average wage.
I was merely outlining a crisis scenario that will happen if we can't control inflation.
Work burnout, eDeath (0 wellness) is just going to lead us to sack the ill. How can that be having so good ?
What about those that decide to have a eDay-off ?They will never get a hardworker medal.
I pleased to see that you are adopting some of my programme : Council Housing. Even if it isn't that exactly.
What are you planning to do to rectify health issues in the working class ?
This article is awfully good. voted & subbed
v
Oh yes ! I didn't say you approved Hayek, but you accept his "business cycle" idea. You inject currency into the market to boost prices. It was necessary, I just think TUP over did it !
You should have kept prices low, encouraged exports, increased the army and raise wages by a maximum of 50% with the gain of productivity.
Anyway, it is just a marginal newspaper that nobody actually reads. I don't see the fuss, unless you think it dangerous, in that case offer me something interesting 😉
HOLY CRAP YOU MEAN THE ADMINS FIXED THEIR GAME WITHOUT CRAZY SCHEMES!?!?!?!
MADNESS
*Ignoring Dishmcds kissing ass*
Melophore, I know you mean well, which is why I responded to you. I know you'll be a great contributor to our economic discussion in the future. However many of the things you talk about are beyond the reach of government.
Yes we can help new players to help themselves by educating them. But if their wellness is very low it is either because they are semi-active, they made a rookie error (education can fix this) or they are stupid.
People have the means to support themselves in the form of medal gold. They just need to know how to use it. You keep talking about things which are impossible like I can just press a button and make them happen. Council houses? IRL I can go to somebodies house if they don't pay rent, or take them to court. Here, they could easily steal the house. Increase exports? How exactly do you suggest I do it? We did do it, but I want to know how you would do it.
It is easy to keep wellness up. Buy a decent house using medal gold. Buy decent food using your wage. If you want to fight every day, join the armed forces. Simple. You get out of this game what you put in, and if you log in each day for 10 minutes you can easily maintain wellness at above 90. There is no healthcare crisis. Even when you could heal with the hospital I got workers who were inactive working at 40-50 wellness. It's a fact of the game that inactive people fail.
On a final note- you have a small paper now, but I think if you commit yourself to learning the realities of the game and how to get around them to implement your obviously strong political beliefs you could end up being an important writer. I V&S anyway. Good luck.
Thanks Keers, I do appreciate you. The situation was pretty bad when TUP moved in, at least it hasn't gotten worse.
In my article : Industrial Britain, I try to explain how we could increase exports and increase spending power.
Our goods have to be competitive on foreign markets despite strong protectionism. Productivity has to increase faster than wages, produce more at the same price to sell cheaper goods.
Selling goods abroad, buying up foreign gold, filling up the nations coffers through income tax.
I know you can't press on a button to change things drastically. I just think that inflation causes wages to increase too much, and makes our goods less competitive abroad.
From my research, eRussia has strong market regulatory systems.
Good night to you and keep well.
The situation is infinitely better. Our economy is more measured and controlled than any other in Phoenix, I can tell you that straight away. The rest of your points are generally correct, but it's easy to say these things. Like "You should have a strong army" "You should sell more goods abroad" "You should increase wages" but there is no magic way to do this. If you have suggestions on how to actually achieve things feel free to comment.
I'm concerned about wellness dropping as the current world wide issue. IMO the hospital change means that high quality goods are in high demand at the moment, but producing high quality goods reduces people's wellness a lot.
Once enough higher quality houses are produced or when people's wellness drops enough the wellness decreasing issue should stabalise and then go away, but maybe v2 will come first with its houses that decay over time 🙁.
To my mind the only thing the government can do is encorage gifts and train low level housing building skills in government companies.
voted.
You're pretty spot on there Fawr. We can help, but people need to help themselves.
"I spent all my weekly profits to keep the poorest of my staff above 40 wellness."
Then you sir, are not the sharpest tool in the box. At little over minimum wage (1.2GBP), he can afford Q2 food, which will automatically increase his wellness to 50 over time.
The problem is, most player's don’t pay attention to what you say; I have asked al my workers to buy Q3 food(they can all afford it) but I think nobody has done this. i have given them the offer to buy cheap house(15 gold for Q2 at that time) but only one made a respond. The new wellness system is something where you need to think to keep your wellness up. The most two clickers don't think. In the end this can be damaging our economy. People with low wellness get a lower wage, making they will never have enough money to buy their wellness up.
But on a side note, the economy at the moment is much stronger than it was a month ago. Lowering the taxes and getting some inflation in the market has done wonders.
True enough, I only help out those who answer.
The problem is the change in hospital rules, maybe we could raise VAT one or two points and the government could buy gifts to help out those who need it. Just an idea...
No more government intervention please. The people who are losing wellness are just not buying the right food. I know house can be very expensive but Q3 food for Q3 workers can be achieved and with some gifts a week you are fine. I have land workers we earn some 10 GBP in a Q3, and they are losing wellness.
The only thing the government can do is offering cheap Q1 houses. after that people can do it them self. You self the Q1 house, you have 5 gold form the HW medal and you can have Q2 house.
well these update good one, there fault if they not invested in house, and spent it all on training, these mean you have to spend gold and money on products which good for everyone. mean how many people do you know who visit the hosipial after work and training?
you go home and eat something there shock lol, why people having hard time dealing with something so simple is beyond me.
*Ignores Iain missing the fact that his stupid schemes had nothing to do with "fixing the economy", like he's been trying to do since he started.*
Dishmcds you're a useless player, all you do is troll and kiss admins butt in every article. Nobody even likes you. Why don't you just go away?
Iain sure is butthurt.
How's the lefty coalition? Oh, wait.
Yay for high construction wages! They fuel my Q5 gun habit.
It's healthy Dish. How is your ass kissing going? I can lend you some lip-salve if its getting sore.
vote & sub
buy and sell house.Pm me
@Dish - I both agree and disagree. I don't think the economy is 'fixed' I just think that we are in a different situation to where we were before, so in that context, I think that you are right, no one has fixed the economy.
However, I disagree that keers has no impact on it, I think that he can have a significant impact both in market confidence, and in the actual mechanics of the monetary processes. The changes to the exchange rate of gold/GBP clearly had an impact, and I think that people approached the situation differently following his, and some other articles on the matter and that changed the market to some extent.
I'm not sure if I agree with dressing up propaganda as vaguely independent news, most of what is in this paper is really not news. However, I think that there is a significant impact on market confidence and spending habits much wider than the subscribers to the paper.
The problem is that regular eWorker when start the game dreaming about having own Company.So he don't wanna spend gold he's given with medal's.He wanna save and buy/make company.So he try to avoid buying better food or even a q1 house is expencive for him.
So let them eDie.He must agree with that game is harder now and cant get thousands off golds whit 2 klick per day.We dont need such players.But any help is good for some who are rly needed.There will be faker's belive me.Who pretend not having money and still reciving help.
Melophore helped me to switch q1 house for q2 house.And im very satasfied.He even added few off his gold and buyed me a food plus gifted me.I work at his company.
I suport article writer and melophore.But thinking the melophore not geting attention he deserve.
i have a way to encourage people to get healthy, although its rather impractical and would take ages to get working properly but here it is anyhow. If you are 100% well and you work u get 100% wages then for every, say, ten wellness you go down you loose x% (yet to decide) of your wages so 100% could be 3.00GBP and 50% could be 1.50GBP. It may encourage people to get their health up so they can get full wages... unfortunately the 1 big flaw is that with lower wages you cant afford to get your health up. Its an idea that could work with a little bit of tweaking maybe.