Questions tagged [economy]
For questions regarding wealth, trade, or financial concepts.
768
questions
7
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7answers
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Selling real-estate in space. How can it be allocated and how can it be marked out?
Space is useful for storage. In the future there is a thriving space real-estate market. Generally speaking, space in orbit is more desirable than outer space but both have a market value.
How can ...
6
votes
8answers
2k views
How can the economy of scale be prevented from disrupting the balance of power in a magic system?
Witches are broken down into three classes. Class A have a limited supply of Mana, and must work in tandem with other witches to combine their power in order to pull off many spells. However, their ...
5
votes
5answers
138 views
How to make a professional guerilla/partisan army work?
When you see certain wargame scenario's, there are some places that are simply outmatched from the outset. For example in a scenario where Russia decides to attack the EU (or the EU decides to attack ...
9
votes
5answers
1k views
How can I reinstitute the gold standard in the current global economy?
The gold standard is a monetary system where a country's currency or paper money has a value directly linked to gold. The U.S.A (United States of Amestris) operated on this standard, allowing the ...
37
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13answers
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What would America lack if cut off from World trade for years?
North and South America totally cut off from world trade for years in modern times. No intercontinental except between the two. Would there be any current technology that couldn't be made due to lack ...
6
votes
3answers
497 views
Could you actually make a green space program?
Is it plausible to build and maintain a space program without adding to climate change?
While obviously there are larger problems in the near term with respect to climate change, I'm thinking about a ...
2
votes
1answer
122 views
How would this prediction/assassination market fail?
A large, multinational cooperation wants to enable it's executives to get more creative in pursuing the companies goals. So an internal prediction market is established:
starting at lower management, ...
1
vote
6answers
188 views
What resources would space traders trade, assuming a gate network but no other FTL exists?
So our world you have wormholes, they aren't "tunnels", just "doorways" of sorts between two systems.
The network connects a small portion of our galaxy, some 500 solar systems in ...
8
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8answers
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Magic economy: Using mana as a standardized unit of currency?
I'm toying with the idea for a world where instead of minting coins out of valuable metals all countries us mana, the 'fuel' of magic, as a currency itself. Since mana always has value, in it's ...
4
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5answers
207 views
How can I establish a long term banking system for the Medieval period?
Bernius Madolffo was a good and honest priest who turned to entrepreneurship after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. The death of the Catholic Church and fall of Christianity in the world ...
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20answers
8k views
Why would an advanced civilization even want slaves?
In a world where people have advanced robotics and A.I. to the point that most people can just have a machine do things for them, is there any reason for slaves to be used also?
Obviously nobody needs ...
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2answers
109 views
Most important trading resources for the US [closed]
After Bob brought the American flag from the moon into his possession and convinced the majority of the American people that it is true, President Prumptin is not very pleased of this idea. While he ...
12
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9answers
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What kind of hazardous alien waste would tear apart society trying to obtain it?
An unpowered alien pod drifts into our solar system. No particularly advanced technology is present on it. But the pod is full of ejected hazardous waste (say, between 10-1000 tons) from an alien ...
35
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16answers
8k views
Signs of wealth in a world where private planet ownership is common
In my far-future world, owning a planet or moon is as common as owning a house. People usually have a large house, with an adjacent farm for their own sustenance that is usually tended by robots. ...
4
votes
2answers
83 views
Could rockets/VTOLs replace traditional air travel?
So this is obviously a several year old proposal from SpaceX in which they claim that their Starship is capable of being used as a means of traveling anywhere in the world in under an hour.
A shiny ...
1
vote
4answers
177 views
Acceptance of a Quasi-Sovereign AI State
I always loved the idea of robots in the future. I see artificial intelligence as an inevitability and that humans might one day have AI companions like Cortana or coworkers like C-3PO.
But one very ...
36
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36answers
8k views
What non-electrical, basic tool from today, could be made that would change the world in ancient times?
John from our future, takes the time-travel bus back in time and steps off in 5th century Europe. He heads for the secret location where travellers are kitted out with authentic clothes, food and ...
asked Jul 17 at 20:30
chasly - reinstate Monica
37.1k12 gold badges116 silver badges233 bronze badges
-4
votes
1answer
203 views
Will hydroelectricity survive after peak oil? Why was it ever done? [closed]
Why did hydroelectricity replace more efficient direct uses of water mills? Is it just that people are lazy and there is more engineering in mechanical systems?
And for the "more efficient" ...
0
votes
1answer
87 views
How would companies capitalize on the existence of magic, forcing the little peopel to rise against them? [closed]
I wanted to combine "Shadowrun" - "industrial espionage runs rampant in a near-future setting. A "Shadowrun" is successful data theft or physical break-in at a rival ...
3
votes
3answers
141 views
What could be some form of technology that could and would be rapidly formed in the event an new space race was started
The year is 2045 and China has launched a successful colonization mission to Mars after what seems like decades of simply catching up with the USA in terms of space exploration, rocket science, lunar ...
7
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6answers
212 views
How can I streamline the process of a voodoo black market?
I, Marie Leaveau, am an alternative voodoo occultist entrepreneur from Louisiana and run an underground black market called Grimm Fairy artifacts Inc. Dubbed "The Bitch Queen" by naysayers, ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
Effects of anti coin counterfeiting magic on pre-industrial revolution on trade?
In the continent there are 2 main powers that mint coins.
Both of them use a tiny bit of magic on coins that resonates with a small rod when the coin is true and does nothing when it is false.
For ...
5
votes
5answers
202 views
When colonizing Mars, what would the emergence of a local economy look like? [closed]
Let's say humanity keeps advancing in its attempt to achieve permanent human presence on Mars, At the beginning it might be only temporary deployments (like to the ISS), but after some time let's say ...
2
votes
2answers
387 views
Effects of legalizing human meat and how to suppress criminal organizations selling it [closed]
Inside the citadel we see many creatures living together, they don't do so because they all love each other and the citadel has achieved not only the end to racism but also inter species peace but ...
4
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7answers
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Is a Medieval Post-Scarcity Society Possible on an alien world?
By post-scarcity in this case, I mean that the entire society's sustenance and basic comfort level needs can be met through the minimal effort of what modern man would consider hobbies and odds-and-...
4
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7answers
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Would a fully automated future society where everything is owned by the state still require taxes?
In this future society:
All of Earth's resources can be accessed since the planet has one world government.
All services and goods are owned, created, and distributed by the state.
Every step of ...
5
votes
5answers
177 views
What would be the smallest change required for the United States to purchase Greenland (time frame: 1945-2000)? [closed]
I have heard there have been multiple instances of this happening prior to the current president's proposal. Could this have seriously happened some time in the 20th century?
6
votes
4answers
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Which map below would make more sense for a post-apocalyptic federal government to control if it wanted to liberate the country?
So I’m currently stuck between the peninsula-map and this one .
Between the two, which would make more sense for the federal government to have control over 17 years after zombies and a virus both ...
2
votes
4answers
1k views
How Much Gold to Pay Off Death Sentence? [closed]
So, you've got a fantasy kingdom that has had the better part of its treasury stolen by a dragon. They tracked the dragon back to its lair and trapped it permanently inside... but the dragon refuses ...
10
votes
6answers
1k views
How can a nation that preys on its neighbors survive in the long term?
There is a veil which separates our reality from a parallel dimension that contains Eldritch abominations. An predatory empire has discovered that they can harness the power of this realm by summoning ...
2
votes
1answer
146 views
How can I get people to put their money where their mouth is? [closed]
When individuals cede their power for effective choice to involuntary institutions, as soon as there's an uncoupling between what the institutions are aiming at and the interests of people, which do ...
7
votes
3answers
132 views
Nipping urban sprawl in the bud
'The culture of good place-making, like the culture of farming, or agriculture, is a body of knowledge and acquired skills. It is not bred in the bone, and if it is not transmitted from one generation ...
6
votes
4answers
166 views
Economy of advanced interstellar society
I am trying to create a game, where you take role of CEO of huge company in future interstellar society. All basic needs of humans like food, accomodation, trasport, healthcare, education are ...
12
votes
10answers
610 views
Economics aboard a colony ship [closed]
Suppose we have an interstellar generation ship, with an initial population of about 10,000 and a final population (on arrival) of about 20,000. Since they're traveling for sixty-some-odd years, ...
8
votes
4answers
606 views
Human labor required to setup automated mining outpost on faraway planet?
Glossing over the technological implications of interstellar travel, what sort of human labor might still be required in a future where we are capable of setting up nigh-fully automated endeavors on ...
4
votes
3answers
152 views
Can secrets/information be a feasible currency in a fantasy setting?
In a generic fantasy world, there exists an island community in which the inhabitants are freely provided food, board, and entertainment. Their only use for traditional coin is to trade with passing ...
5
votes
3answers
259 views
How would a long lifespan affect the economy?
My species have an average lifespan of 500 years. In the first 20 years and the last 30 years, they age normally, but for the rest, they appear barely to age at all. If we were to compare them to ...
15
votes
7answers
2k views
Is a privately owned nomadic trading fleet economically viable?
A popular trope with some basis in history is the "travelling merchant", who visits remote villages carrying merchandise both common and rare, and many stories from strange lands.
I've got a scenario ...
13
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22answers
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How can I make female battle mages a good investment for warfare?
Runes are used to enhance the human body's capabilities. They are inscribed onto the skin through a ritual and work by the individual accessing the rune when needed, creating the effect. These ...
3
votes
1answer
87 views
What “big con game” could an alternate-reality traveller play on a knowledgeable and suspicious civilization?
I have a cosmos where FTL travel is via an alternate dimension. The problem is when you return to our universe, you find yourself at the right destination, but a completely different parallel world ...
9
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3answers
278 views
What would be valuable and useable as currency for people traveling between multiple dimensions?
I have a cosmos where FTL travel is via an alternate dimension. The problem is when you return to our universe, you find yourself at the right destination, but a completely different parallel world ...
7
votes
4answers
171 views
The economics of laser sails vs fusion rockets
What would be the economic trade offs of building fusion powered rockets vs building laser relays across the solar system? What assumptions would you need for each one of these to be the superior ...
2
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2answers
165 views
Would my version of a post-apocalyptic US federal government make sense and/or function properly?
So here’s some back story to catch you guys up:
In my story, the Black Flu broke out around 2002 and lasted from then all the way until 2010 where it burned itself out. The Black Flu was the most ...
33
votes
15answers
6k views
Can a store that doesn't need to buy merchandise stay unnoticed?
Setting
A world like ours, plus the usual magical masquerade, in an european capital (not decided which one yet).
This is for a story following a few families, each with one type of powers. The ...
17
votes
3answers
299 views
How to make a self-sustaining necropolis?
My living friends. I'm a Lich, a wizard that became a undead and obtained immortality, I am looking to build a necropolis for me to be its king, I chose a distant city to turn it's inabitants into ...
6
votes
7answers
1k views
Currency exchange across time [duplicate]
Congratulations! The year is 2030 and after a few months of waiting on a list you've been chosen to become one of a select few individuals who will be allowed to time travel to your chosen year of ...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
Pandemic & minimum viable population of complex society [duplicate]
I am currently writing a book about a pandemic. If you want more informations, see my previous posts here and here.
Imagine a bacterium with a very high infection rate, so that within a year, most ...
1
vote
1answer
130 views
What would the job market look like if half the population suddenly disappeared? [closed]
Half of all humans on planet earth one day suddenly disappear, leaving no trace. My question is, how would this affect the job market?
First I assume there would be a lot of grieving over lost loved ...
47
votes
15answers
7k views
What would be the consequence of a traffic light system where the users with green light pay the users with red light?
Traffic lights are mechanisms that control the usage of intersections. I'd like to perform a thought experiment for an alternative mechanism. The basic idea is that the intersection is a shared ...
1
vote
7answers
310 views
Why would a government release a virus that preferentially kills old people; would a country struggling with an aging population secretly do this? [closed]
Inspired by current events, and the ongoing problem of too many old people and not enough young people creating a burden on pension/healthcare systems in Asia and around the world.
For starters, I ...
