War Economy: All in Favour....
New Faustian Man
This is the first occasion I’ve stood as a candidate for the eIrish congress. Should my candidacy be successful, my tenure will be geared to helping resolve the issues undermining the eIrish economy.
As such, this presentation, which I hope will convince citizens to vote for me, is going to focus on the state of the Irish economy.
Definition of ‘Economics’
Noun
1. (used with a singular verb) The science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind;
2. (used with a plural verb) Financial considerations; economically significant aspects;
OUR CURRENT PREDICAMENT
The eIrish economy, currently hamstrung by high wages and taxes, by overseas investment pulling out because they can’t make a profit in the Irish market, is in freefall.
That’s the uncomfortable truth. Any company operating in eIreland is experiencing their margins squeezed so tight its become impossible to both pay minimum wage at each pay grade whilst also make a profit. And zero profit = the termination of investment in our economy. We’re seeing companies pull out of the eIrish market for precisely this reason. With the resultant outcome that the range of goods (tanks, rifles, food etc.) have markedly decreased in both quality and quantity, with prices fluctuating arbitrarily because the market gives no clue as to the worth of any given commodity.
Comparing the quality, quantity and range of a selection of products available on the Irish market with oversea's markets should help to clarify where we are.
Take Tanks as an axample. As of writing (19th/Nov/2010) the Irish market has a range of 6 products on offer. Compare this with Croatia: 37, Serbia: 47, or the USA: 53. Now there are other markets out their faring poorly: the UK, Germany and Australia for instance. But even so, their production still runs healthily into double figures!
Next consider food.
The Irish market currently stocks 10 items ranging in quality. Australia, another poor performer in Tank production, wreaks up 42 items; the UK presently stocks 72 items; Poland 168; even Sweden, a country roughly commensurate in size to Ireland, stocks 38 items!
Or Houses. Ireland presently has 6 options on the market. Sweden 11. UK 14. Germany 24. Etc etc etc.
Now all this could just be hot air. And the argument could be put forth that the Irish economy IS STILL WORKING because eIreland retains her possessions in the UK and, more notably - if only for the longevity - her US states.
But lets take a look at why eIreland is able to exercise this kind of power, which, judging from the state of her economy, should be a huge drain on her resources. Introducing....
THE BOTTOMLESS GOLDMINES OF eIRELAND….
The fact is: Every battle of every war is won by citizens willing to invest in private reserves of GOLD - and its this constant influx which effectively underwrites the eIrish economy.
These PRIVATE RESERVES of gold invested by battle-hardened citizen-warriors allow eIreland to have unprofitable companies, wage levels disproportionate with the mood of the market, plus taxes that further hamstring the economy from turning a profit. And thankful though we all are that eIrish citizens are willing to invest their REAL CASH to safeguard our territories - its an untenable state of affairs that will only end in the complete destruction of the eIrish economy with production, wages, taxes etc having no correlation with each other.
So how do we fix the ailing economy? How do we once more attract foreign investors?
The answer is simple.
Firstly, we can no longer pander to any form of governance motivated by the socioeconomic well-being of its citizens. Citizens will just have to get by on markedly decreased wages for the good of the nation!
The reality of this game is that EVERY economy is a WAR ECONOMY!
Secondly, we can no longer tolerate economic policy which aims to increase the minimum wage and heighten taxes to the detriment of the market - a market which produces 100% of eIrish goods and which is put into jeopardy every time a company pulls out of it because its become unprofitable to trade in Ireland.
Government policy must be determined on the rubric that eIreland - like every eRepublik nation - is permanently on a war footing!
High taxes and high wages will only result in continuing the trend of heavy over-reliance on private reserves of GOLD to finance and underwrite the bottomed-out eIrish economy.
A sensible wage-structure will encourage overseas investment whilst also significantly enlarging the amount, range and quality of goods offered on the eIrish market. Which has the knock-on effect of creating competition in the market-place resulting in cheaper goods for everyone.
If you want to see an end to the chaos gripping the eIrish economy then vote New Faustian Man and the Economic Free Thinkers Party on the 25th of November and we’ll work to fix the problems.
Thanks for taking the time to read.
Sincerely,
New Faustian Man
Comments
I agree that the Economy continues to be enamored with low day wages. They are not even subsistence level wages, and don't get me started on the inflated weapon charges.
Thanks for the tip 😉
& yeah the economy is topsy turvy, the food availability was down to 4 choices yesterday and this amid the fighting, plus with no Q5s....
The limitations of the Irish State are really shown on the forcible thefts of late. Any state that is controlled by sharing tax revenue with miscreants is bound to be ruled by them.
As you've rightly pointed out people are the primary resource of any erepublik nation. It's therefore imprortant that the economic policy is a result of a fair balance between the interests of the managers and the working citizens of Ireland.
The minimum wage was raised recently to a level far below what the market was willing to pay employees. Strangely enough... now that I look at the market there are some offers remaining which are below the current minimum wage! http://economy.erepublik.com/en/market/job/54/0/1
Your analysis of the number of managers in specific markets is interesting. I dispute your claim that we have high taxes in Ireland though.... almost every single tax is below 15%!
Btw, I am your first subscriber
I actually dont think the irish economy is having problems.
The fact that we have only few amounts of goods on the market is not a sign of a weak economy and low profits, but of a strong economy and high profits.
Have to agree with starkad on this one, taxes are low, we have regular battles (the only real driving force behind domestic demand, and unemployment in the active population is non-existent.
Starka😛 "The fact that we have only few amounts of goods on the market is not a sign of a weak economy and low profits, but of a strong economy and high profits."
How exactly?
We have few goods because we have a shortage of producers. The reason we have a shortage of producers is because its become unprofitable to do business in eIreland.
How could shortages in weapons, food etc be a sign of a "strong economy"?
The ease and effectiveness with which the Brits were able to wipe out our food market only underlines the fact that shortages in production is bad for the nation - not only economically but militarily.
Its a strategy they'll no doubt employ in the future as well.
The more producers their are in the market the more robust it becomes. A robust, competitive market selling not only products sourced from eIreland but also goods from oversea's companies will ensure the dirty tricks of the Brits don't find such an easy mark next time.
"We have few goods because we have a shortage of producers. The reason we have a shortage of producers is because its become unprofitable to do business in eIreland."
According to the laws of supply and demand....a shortage of producers results in high profits for the few producers that remain.
I think the explanation here is that the eR economy, even more so than the RL one, follows a cyclical nature. Stocks are built during times of peace, and used during times of war.
Right now we are having times of war, thats why the market is nearly empty. However doing business in eIreland IS profitable (still), and the fact that profits are diminishing is a sign that competition is vivid too.
"According to the laws of supply and demand....a shortage of producers results in high profits for the few producers that remain."
Ideally - maybe. But there's been no evidence of particularly high profits because of a diminishing number of producers. On the contrary, the only real effect of low production is the shoddy quantity and quality of goods on the market.
Plus any positives that can be taken from a few producers getting rich of price setting and generally monopolizing the market are comfortably offset by the potential disaster of an invading nation buying up our food and military material, ensuring we're both starving and unequipped to fight back!
"But there's been no evidence of particularly high profits because of a diminishing number of producers"
Are you running a company in eIreland? Is there evidence of particlarly low profits?
I agree with your notion that a rich supply of food is strategically important, but my initial objection was solely aimed at your statement that we have low profits AND little goods on the market at the same time. And that one is the result of the other.
I see your point and, what you say is the ideal scenario, i.e. the production of high quality goods by some high profit-making, high turnover companies acting as the core of the nation's economic infrastructure.
And yes I do own a company but found it impossible to employ anyone from the higher wage grades and anticipate a profit. I was paying them double what they could single-handedly produce in a day! The only option was to give them the sack and wait for prices on the market to increase. I'm still waiting. The company btw is now in the region controlled by the UK - so it could be a long wait!
I don't fundamentally have a problem with a monopoly on production - as long as its producing high-quality goods and plenty of them. That was my original argument. But I do have issue with the inflated wages relative to the sale-price of goods. With my own company it was impossible to turn a profit and I'm sure many others were in the same predicament!
Lower wage levels across the board just seems a more healthier way to run the economy. It'll ensure we have far more profitable companies - which is definitely a step forward from where we are now.
Thats odd. Maybe it was just a problem in the particular industry you operated in, and not of the economy as a whole?
Fairly good analysis. Unfortunate that an article like this only gets 18 or 19 votes (mine was the last one today), but that's probably your biggest problem. There just aren't that many active citizens anymore. eJapan has the same problem. Bottom line: this numbers game called "eRepublik" basically requires constant growth in order to maintain the pseudo-pyramid scheme in place due to the game's mechanics. Contractions in population hit massively hard.
Good luck and try to weather the storm and hope for clearer skies ahead!