Join the new world

The Economist 9th April Edition

Please Help the Economist: Vote and Subscribe



Leaders ~ Editorial

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Economist. After putting the countryfile together for Romania last week the editor was called away on business, and so the usual weekly edition was absent. We apologise to readers for any inconvenience this may have caused.

This week we'll be doing our usual election coverage, along with an unusually high level of war coverage, since there has been a number of conflicts going on this week. We suspect we'll be competing for votes with various fight articles, so we're going to do our own free advertising for the Ministry of Defence to try and compete.

I'd like to do a quick update on the events of the week for the editor, covering a number of functions I fulfil in-game (partly to save me time, partly because I like to keep people in the loop!)

The Guild of Hard Workers is trundling along nicely, having accumulated quite a large membership of happy workers and employers now. However we're always looking for new members. To join you need to be active on the forums, so go to forums.erepublik.co.uk and sign up now if you want to be a part of an effective Union with a track record of supporting its members and securing good pay. We're also looking for an activist or two to apprentice as Journeymen in the guild, with the potential to take over as Guild Master in the near future. The work of running it is simply too large for one person to do, especially if that one person is already loaded down! So if you're a hard worker with a desire to promote the Guild and take it to the next level get in touch.

I took over this week as the new Minister of Finance (MoF), from Roadrunnerspeed. Big shoes to fill, but I've decided rather than trying to compete with his legacy to move the MoF into new areas. As such, I'm proud to announce the new economics Think Tank, the Centre for Financial Affairs. If you're a General Manager, politician or financial whiz, please sign up to the economics forum. If you send me a message with your qualifications you can become a member of the think tank and contribute to all sorts of UK financial policy, from taxation to government intervention in the monetary markets. I'm going to be doing weekly updates in here on policy issues being discussed, so register now and you could be getting a mention in a week.

Thanks for taking the time to indulge me, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the paper.



Leaders ~ Presidential Election

This election was always going to be an unpredictable one, but the sheer drama that accompanied it was enough to set seasoned politicians hearts beating. The lack of UKRP participation in the election immediately negated the need for a coalition, which threw the whole thing wide open between PCP, TUP and a possible coalition of the bottom three, or even a mix of the two. With the UKRP announcement that they would not be standing a candidate there were four remaining serious candidates: Rastari (PCP), Malta_1990 (TUP), Tommy Tommasino (MDU) and HazzN (LSD). Later in the week HazzN pulled out, leaving just the top five parties candidates competing. At the last minute we saw more drama as the LSD officially backed PCP candidate Rastari, and the IFTP backed Tommy. For those of you who don't know: PCP (People's Communist Party), TUP (The Unity Party), MDU (Movement for Democratic Unity), LSD (Liberal Social Democrats), UKRP (UK Reform) and FTP (Independent Free-Thinkers Party). In the end the results looked like this:

Malta_1990

---

344

---

TUP

---

46.24%
Rastari

---

216

---

PC P

---

29.03%
Tommy Tommasino---149

---

MDU

---

20.03%
Tyvas

---

35

---

LTU

---

4.7%

The last candidate was a no-hoper from the L-T United Party, a leftover from the UK Lithuanian community in the UK. Tommy showed an impressive turnout, considering the small voting base of the MDU. He ran a strong campaign, especially on economic matters which he is to be congratulated on. Rastari polled a respectable 216, which is about par with what one would expect considering the PCP electoral machine and LSD support. The big winner of the day was of course the new President, Malta_1990, who picked up nearly all of the UKRP and non-aligned voters, as well as a lot from the other parties. Being elected with such a large majority is usually something only achieved by sitting Prime Ministers, and to do so on a first run is indicative of both Malta's calibre and the hard work of his campaign team.



Britain ~ A Public Mandate

In the recent elections, almost seven hundred and fifty people voted. Yet there are some amongst us who believe that those votes should be disregarded and the election decided by the fifty or so members who are active on the forums every day. In a recent interview on Watchmen Radio, host Patrick Reckitt was told by Presidential Candidate Tommy Tommasino that he would prefer the Presidential elections to be decided by a forum vote.

After the elections there was much moaning that the 'UKRP Sheep Vote' had decided the election by voting Malta. I personally find this an appalling allegation to make. The British public aren't all forum-goers, but as members of the nation they have the right and ability to make a decision based on their values without being labelled sheep by others for it. I know it can be frustrating losing to an inactive member, but it is people's choice to vote along party lines if they wish, and you have to respect their choice.

This debate was thrown into the public view again recently, when this amendment was proposed in the forums to the Ministerial Positions Bill:

“In certain cases, where the most suitable applicant for the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance is not a member of the current Legislative bodies, the Prime Ministry will also allow citizens who have previously been part of these bodies to become Minister, disallowing any voting or discussion on issues that do not regard their respective ministries”

This is again an attempt by the minority of forum goers to remove public mandates from the equation. Effectively this means if you choose not to vote for a candidate in the elections they can still be selected to lead one of the most important organs of government, dealing with tens of thousands of pounds of public tax money. We feel that this is an undemocratic amendment. Although the Economist does not usually take sides on political issues, we feel that we have to in this case champion the basic cause of democracy and civil rights. To have your say on the issue join the forums at forums.erepublik.co.uk and go to the public discussion section.



Bagehot ~ Wellness Fast

Another president, another NHS reform. For the second time in a row, quickly following the heels of a presidential election the NHS is being targeted for reform. Last month Jerry pushed through a hasty reform to reset the NHS after its long shutdown basically by dramatically reducing the amount of gifting to 10 a week, while maintaining the same simple gifting structure as before. This month, however, we see a completely new look on the situation.

During his campaign, Malta introduced his idea of Wellness Fast. It is a radical reform that aims to achieve exactly what it says; wellness, fast. The idea utilises, and relies on, war. The recent aggressive outbursts across the globe that seem to spread from area to area are hoped to fuel our own wellness. The plan is two fold – firstly, citizens below 45 and/or below level 5 (the level at which you can start fighting) will receive, as per normal, local clinic gifting (10 a week). The second group are those over 45 (and over level 5) who will no longer be eligible at all for clinic gifting, instead this group will receive two free moving tickets with instructions to head to the nearest war-torn region with a Q5 hospital. There, they will be instructed to fight smart and receive a boost from the hospital of 50 wellness. Fighting smart means you do not limit the amount of wellness you receive because of excessive fighting – a good article explaining this can be found here.

After they have fought they may remain for the next days fighting if there is any, but otherwise they are to return home. Some debate has occurred concerning the problem which may arise whereby people do not return and simply remain abroad. However, it is more likely most will return. The language barrier is the first issue and, further, if anyone would like to leave the UK they are free to do so at any time, with or without a free ticket.

Those unable to leave the UK (various members of the government) will continue on the 10 a week clinic gifting level.

The main aim of any NHS reform is tackle escalating costs and to make it more efficient (not gifting the dreaded inactive!). This new approach will do that and more. The wide spread, national increase in wellness will not only instantly boost individual wellness (thereby cutting him or her off the gifting list for many months to come), it will also provide UK companies with a workforce overflowing with productivity.

Scipio the Great



Europe ~ Croatian Invasion

This week we saw an invasion of Serbia by Croatia, in which the UK participated in. We have spoken to Sara.Droz, current Minister of Foreign Affairs and an expert in international politics about the motivations behind the war.

The Croatian government had offered Serbia help from the very beginning, before eSerbia existed as a country. They claim that relations have steadily deteriorated since then, with Serbians insulting the Croatian President, and creating multi accounts in an attempt to ban him. Following this Serbia became close friends with Hungary, who recently planned and executed a political takeover in Norway. The Croatians responded by engineering a political takeover of Serbia and using the powers of the President attacked Croatia, engaging the Mutual Protection Pacts with the UK, Romania and several other Atlantis nations. The UK participated in this war on the Croatian side, and the Serbians have now been pushed back into a tiny region, which is used for war-games.



Europe ~ Troubles and Takeovers

This week we saw the second half of the Norwegian takeover by Hungary. As of now the Norwegian state is controlled by Peace and is thus an enemy of the United Kingdom until we can safely return it to its rightful owners, the Norwegian people. So do not fight for Norway if they are attacked. Atlantis is attempting to cut off the Hungarian controlled state from Russia to prevent the Peace nation absorbing Norway by using the Presidential power to retreat to effectively surrender Norwegian territory to Russia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sara Droz commented, saying: “Atlantis fully supports the liberation of Norway, as does the eUK and myself personally. For the eUK it is important that Norway is returned to friendly hands, as the Hungarians represent a potential threat to Scotland”.

This raises a second issue, the threat of the Norwegian state to the UK. Norway borders Scotland in the North, and an invasion, or a declaration of war, is not out of the question. How we respond to this is an issue of fierce debate in the forums right now.

At the same time, we saw a takeover of Belgium in the South. At the last minute Belgium arranged for the Netherlands to invade and take Belgium to prevent the takeover, forming one large country on our Southern border. The Netherlands are currently aligned with Peace, and are thus technically an enemy state. Since the takeover was a violation of the treaty between Belgium and the United Kingdom the Belgians have paid back the gold we gave them to start their country and we in turn have given them back the Belgian currency they paid us.

Sara Droz made this statement on Belgium: “We understand your reasons for merging with the Netherlands. We thank you for honouring our deal. We shall always try to support you in friendship and hope your inclusion into the Netherlands will lead to better relations between the UK and the Netherlands.”

We feel that although the situation does benefit the Belgians, a more appropriate decision would be to merge with the eUK or Germany, both Atlantis nations. By merging with a Peace nation the Belgians have caused conflict in the UK forums about whether or not Belgian can in truth be considered a friend. Regardless of the result, it is inevitable that the UK population will question whether future relations will be as rosy as those we have enjoyed in the past.



Asia ~ Philippine Adventure

A number of our top players, from all parties, have recently migrated to the Philippines with the intention of helping the inactive country and staving off occupation by one of the great powers. Led by Big Boy Bulley, the old guard players formed the Filipino Progressive Movement and stood in the congressional elections. UK citizens Meghan, Bestie, Indiekid, Keitarour, Glorious Failure, Deathtoll, romansoldier, Richard York, Divinitywolf and several others ran for congress and won, often with just a single vote. In the recent Presidential elections Big Boy Bulley stood for the Presidency and won with 86.67% of the vote. Their goal is to rebuild the economy using their own money to fund government companies, which will produce most (if not all) of the countries products. They plan to safeguard the nation from the often rapidly shifting geopolitical situation in the far East.

The problem lies in that despite Indonesia being such a huge power to the South, and the being a number of other powers in the region, much of Asia remains empty of citizens. The recent battles over central and Eastern Asia have not been decided by the citizens who live there, but by the population centres in the Indonesian home isles and the Romanian motherland. So the major obstacle blocking the UK citizens in the Philippines is the Filipinos themselves, and their lack of activity.



Asia ~ South Korea invaded

This week we also saw the invasion of South Korea by China, a country which has itself only recently emerged as a free nation. The South Korean state of Gyeonggi-do has been annexed by China in a battle between the two nations. The battle was tiny by the standards we ar used to, with a total damage of around sixty thousand. To put things into perspective, the battles between Indonesia and Romania regularly accumulate that much damage per hour.

China is currently run by an Indonesian, Mimihitam. The country is undergoing a recovery of sorts, but the invasion of South Korea shows that it has militaristic ambitions. Surrounded by mighty Romania, whose vast empire now extends to the Kashmir, Tibet and the Pacific, South Korea looked like the easy option. How the war goes now depends entirely on the mutual protection pacts signed by the two countries. China has signed alliances with the three strongest Peace powers, Indonesia, Iran and Hungary. South Korea has no such alliance. It is vulnerable. However its position as an enemy of Peace may make it a likely recipient of Atlantis aid.



Business News ~ Taking Stock

The Economist elves have been considering how to fix the economy for a while now, and we've come to the conclusion that the biggest obstacle to growth is citizen investment in the Economy, combined with a weak job market. The job market is basically a job for recruitment- making the game exciting isn't our field. But as for citizen investment we feel there are steps that can be taken.

Every citizen receives 5 gold upon reaching level 6. We propose the creation of a new stock exchange, where larger companies can offer shares using admin-enforceable contracts. We also propose a co-operative club, where younger members can meet and agree to donate equal amounts to form a business. For those with little gold there will be a level 6 club, where members can donate 5 gold each with the purpose of creating a new business. With five members this would mean an organisation and a Q1 business. If members want to withdraw their stake they could re-sell it in the stock market. This is an idea in its infancy, but one that should be followed through. We need the gold flow in the country if we're ever to become an economic super-power. This author would do it himself, but sadly has no time. A stock exchange could be a real money make in the long run, not just with the potential for brokerage costs, but also because a Stock Exchange Manager would also have the ability to invest themselves in the most promising ventures. So go and found it!



**The Economist**

Top 10 UK Businesses by Sales (this week)

1. Q5 Housing
2. Organic Food
3. Liverpool Houses
4. Ape Ammunition
5. Home on the Moon
6. Ithaca Weapons
7. Aurum Arms
8. SV Food Q3 UK
9. What Da FF....
10. Flippy Chips Plane Trips