STRATEGERY!

Day 771, 06:58 • Published in USA USA • by PigInZen


STRATEGERY!

Our Asian campaign rolls on! As the rest of the world descends into flames the eUS is slowly and methodically working to reduce the power of one of the pillars of PHOENIX (and formerly one of the two strongest powers in PEACE), Indonesia. We're starting to see a bit of PHOENIX propaganda claiming that we're out for imperial conquest and griping from citizens in friendly nations concerning our lack of attention to their defenses. There are some very good reasons for our current path and I'd love to spell it out for everyone in a nice succinct manner.


PHOENIX' POWER BASE



Apologies to Ice-T.

The main powers of PHOENIX are Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Russia and Serbia. Let's address Indonesian power right now since that's who we're primarily fighting against in India.

Indonesia holds one domestic high resource region: Sumatra with high oil.

High Oil is nice and all but Oil is only used to make moving tickets. To compensate for this lack of high resources Indonesia has conquered and held several foreign territories: Western Australia (Diamonds), Northern Cape (Diamonds), Karnataka (Iron) and Madhya Pradesh (Grain). Western Australia was returned to Australia a bit ago but Indonesia still retains the other three high resource regions.

The possession of high iron by a country cannot be underestimated in its impact. Because weapons manufacturing requires iron access to it is critical. Having production in your country is a bonus as weapons are the most highly-consumed good in eRepublik. Everyone eats once per day but sometimes we'll use up 10, 20 or more weapons per day at higher levels. Because of this demand iron production is highly advantageous. During the few days that the US possessed Liaoning (Chinese high iron region) we saw wages jump between 15 and 25 percent in land industries. That extra wage income translates into a deeper tax base for government, allowing more activity militarily. This in turn drives more demand for weapons.

The possession of high grain is a secondary point but still an important one. High grain serves a similar function to high iron in that food demand is relatively high; everyone must eat daily. Food demand is relatively inelastic in comparison to other industries (weapons, moving tickets, gifts) in that there is a base level of demand and a close ceiling as well; the only difference in grain consumption is in the quality of food citizens decide to purchase.

In short, Indonesia's power is strictly about access to resources. We cannot really do anything about her high oil but we can surely attempt to restrict her access to high iron and grain.

UNPLUGGING INDONESIA FROM THE POWER GRID



Disconnecting high resources would have a dramatic impact on the Indonesian economy, severly disrupting their land industry, tax revenue and population. The economy in eRepublik revolves around access to high resource regions. The lack of such regions can be mitigated in ways but there is no secret behind the reasons why the countries with the strongest currencies hold high iron. High iron is the key to the game in so many ways.

Let's assume that Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh both fall to the US and are liberated back to India.

The loss of high iron would have the severest impact for Indonesia. Citizens currently working in iron mines would have to look elsewhere for jobs. The Indonesian government would lose tax revenue from those employees if the Indonesian oil industry couldn't soak them up. Productivity would fall has highly skilled land employees either relocate to other countries to find work or shift industries. Finally Indonesia would be at the mercy of the global iron market. There would be an outflow of currency from the Indonesia economy to foreign producers.

If Indonesia were to have no high grain region she would be forced to import grain. Currently Indonesia has a 99% import duty on grain. This would have to drop and any taxation reaped (doubtful, btw at that level) would fall to nil. Indonesia would lose the land industry base and it's also doubtful that its domestic oil industry could pick up the the disrupted employees. Again, the effects would be as similar as losing high iron.

The long-term effects of liberating Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh would be to severly reduce the tax revenue of the Indonesia government, increase costs of raw materials and goods in the Indonesia market, reduce Indonesian land industry wages and force emigration of high-skilled Indonesian land workers.


THERE'S GONNA BE A FIGHT



I can guarantee you that Indonesia's not going to go down easily. We're already seeing adjustments to the potential power shift away from Indonesia: many Indonesian tanks have moved abroad and the attacks in Romania and Greece by Indonesian allies Turkey, Hungary and Bulgaria are partially meant to shift US focus away from Asia. The Pakistani land swap through Iran will surely bring more PHOENIX activity to India as well.

The first stop is Karantaka. Every eUS citizen should do whatever it takes to win that battle. After that, Madhya Pradesh. Let us collectively finish the task in knocking Indonesia from the ranks of top powers in eRepublik.


E Pluribus Unum. From Many, One.



I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: Together we have strength beyond measure. Do your part. Follow DoD orders. Fight with weapons. Maintain your wellness. SUPPORT THE CAUSE.