Questions tagged [economy]
For questions regarding wealth, trade, or financial concepts.
811
questions
-5
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2answers
101 views
How do I fix the unit of money/coins? [closed]
Ok so here's the thing, how is the the value of a coin and the value of items you buy with it decided?
After production is enough to fill the needs of the population, item to item trade comes to an ...
3
votes
3answers
112 views
Scenario for creating a world akin to cyberpunk
I was wondering if the debt of major developed countries (especially the USA) were to grow too high (possibly with interest rates above GDP as this is the current view of what it takes to go backrupt) ...
3
votes
3answers
176 views
How fast could we build a Dyson Swarm?
I'm in a rush to colonize the Solar System. Thankfully, the latest Space Race, a commercial one between SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and other less known market entrants, is set to dramatically ...
3
votes
2answers
272 views
How can I mass produce steel without coal?
So, Suppose for a moment that there is a society on the verge of an industrial revolution.
They live on a super-continent. The continent has a circumference of around 40,000 kilometers (If I recall ...
27
votes
10answers
9k views
If I build a railroad around the edge of a supercontinent, will that kill the oceangoing shipping industry?
Suppose, for a moment, that there is a human inhabited supercontinent. The planet that this supercontinent is on does not have any large landmasses which are more than 10 KM from the primary continent ...
14
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11answers
2k views
What will it take to get 1,000,000 people living in space habitats?
Sure, land is expensive here in downtown Metropolis, but lots of cheap land to build on even a few dozen miles out, never mind in the backwoods, or in flyover agricultural lands that rich, self-...
4
votes
9answers
372 views
How do I determine which areas of my empire would be richest and poorest? [closed]
In my book series, the Aurean Empire spans an entire Earth-sized world called Aurea (however, all of the landmass is on the southern hemisphere, so only that part is inhabited). Overall, the planet's ...
2
votes
1answer
115 views
How accurate was/ could minting be in the early middle ages regarding to the shape of the coin (circular)?
I am having trouble finding information on this and I lack the knowledge to know how feasible or not this would be.
I'd like to know how perfectly round coins could be made in the early middle ages. ...
29
votes
8answers
7k views
What happens if King Midas produces gold en-masse
Suppose King Midas learns to turn off his power to turn things into gold, and passes on that ability to his children.
A few centuries later, King Midas has thousands of descendants, all of whom can ...
0
votes
2answers
82 views
How would telepathy among kinsmen effect preindustrial societies? [closed]
So if people from the same family can communicate telepathically over long distances, how would that effect postindustrial societies? Ie rome, medieval times or even early modern times
The way it ...
-2
votes
3answers
228 views
A big primitive computer in orbit, very big, what is a potential fiat money value for its use? [closed]
Was looking for materials for the answer to the question
Semiconductor foundries are a thing of the past. Rebuild the computer industry if you can
it turns out that it is seemingly possible to obtain ...
-1
votes
4answers
148 views
How can a for-profit prison enterprise cut costs while also maximizing growth potential?
I, Jefferson Bezonius, run the largest e-commerce business which have penetrated markets in various nations, making me one of the wealthiest men in the world. My company, Amazo, provides a platform in ...
25
votes
10answers
6k views
Time traveling Bitcoin buying
One of the most common answer tropes to the "start-your-life-over-at-x-age-with-all-your-current-memories"-question is people saying that they'd buy Bitcoin or invest in Stock XYZ that they ...
7
votes
3answers
278 views
How could medieval nobles standing improve by having someone from 2021 as an accountant?
I remember reading in another question about Time Travel here on the forum, with the subject of you being stuck in medieval time.
That if you where lucky you could have a good life serving your local ...
1
vote
2answers
182 views
How would stone age settlements interact with, and be influenced by closely neighbouring high-tech civilisation?
I've tried to find real world examples where something like Maasai Tribes, or groups of a similar life style, that live more or less alongside a high-tech civilisation, but I haven't been able to. ...
1
vote
0answers
53 views
Would it be possible to mine the metallic hydrogen from jupiter with our current technology? [duplicate]
Simply put, metallic hydrogen is obtained at absurd atmospheric pressures, becoming a stable liquid with very interesting properties. As a super conductor or simply the most efficient fuel that ...
0
votes
11answers
3k views
Despite proliferation of graphene, why is gold still so expensive in the future?
Right now I can think of 3 important factors determining the trading value of gold and why is it so expensive:
Factor 1 is longevity; this element rarely if ever reacts with anything, particularly ...
23
votes
21answers
4k views
What would make sailing difficult?
I'm looking to write a story where the world is a lot of islands separated by rather small water expanses (about the width of the Mediterranean or maybe that and a half) and I am struggling to find a ...
1
vote
3answers
168 views
Slave species that wants to be ruled over [closed]
Let's say aliens come to Earth, then leave us a slave species that only wants to serve other beings and would not like to be freed. They are the same shape but much stronger and have the same ...
4
votes
1answer
153 views
How much would take and cost to construct a building/tower that reaches space? (with todays technology) [duplicate]
I am aware that there is a concept called "space elevator" that would be a much cheaper and more efficient option of reaching space with a construction (even though we don't have the ...
-2
votes
2answers
93 views
What MacGuffin can convince a “bronzish” age city state with no stakes on a war to go to war [closed]
First of all, not sure if it's a worldbuilding question but I've read some of the questions here and on RPG stack exchange and my question seemed more fit for this stack exchange. Hope I'm right.
I'm ...
-1
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2answers
152 views
How would society that embraces only non-answer still prosper? [closed]
Set in the modern day society a bill was passed in the parliment just recently to force all its people to only use non-answer for all questions including daily conversation as part of the Personal ...
52
votes
13answers
10k views
What would an immortal-run American bank have to do to secretly maintain bank accounts for immortal customers?
A common concern with immortal fictional characters like vampires and the like is the frequency with which they'd have to change their identities and move around in order to avoid people noticing how ...
5
votes
3answers
274 views
Why is monster index still going strong?
An index is a measure of how a stock market is performing. Even the monsters know how to build up their portfolio.
When a kill is secured -- say a human being -- or a carcass is recovered, they are ...
9
votes
11answers
3k views
Given early 1800's level technology, is it feasible to extract salt and fresh water from the ocean?
Suppose the setting is a small coastal island with only three towns in it. (I imagine it's roughly the size of the Isle of Man, perhaps a little bit bigger.) Technology level is roughly around the ...
7
votes
5answers
222 views
Wargs: Where would they be economically significant if they existed on Earth?
Using the Tolkien depiction of Wargs (horse-sized and fairly intelligent large lupines that can be domesticated), where would they likely find an economic niche as livestock or work animals? I would ...
6
votes
2answers
145 views
What are various ways to gain influence over a nation primarily using economics?
This is set in a traditional Isekai world with magic, medieval technology, and a feudal system. The protagonist wants to reshape a country to match his values, basically making the nation "good&...
4
votes
1answer
106 views
How long and how much money would it take to rebuild a war torn domain/city in a late Medieval esque society (+ levitation magic)?
This is research for a book I'm writing which is set in a world with the technology level and feudal system of the late medieval period. The only exception is that there is magic and a non-human race ...
0
votes
1answer
42 views
How would a group of extra-terrestrial infiltrators go about destroying a free market economy [closed]
Let's say that a small group (around 20 or so) of well-equipped, highly intelligent ETs have secretly made their way on to Earth. They have all the knowledge they need of our various languages and ...
1
vote
1answer
84 views
What kind of companies and fronts would a humanitarian conspiracy have?
A humanitarian AI known as URAED has set up a one-AI infrastructure for supporting a conspiracy. This conspiracy being the intrusion, resource extraction, and deployment of humanitarian resources and ...
1
vote
3answers
168 views
In the modern era, how could I have a very bad recession comparable to the Great Depression?
In my world (modern day Earth, but at a higher technology level with national AI systems being commonplace across the world, cybernetics limbs being an option, and autonomous weapon systems being ...
15
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12answers
3k views
Why would people invest in very-long-term commercial space exploration projects?
In a relatively near future, the humanity discovered a way of commercializing space, in the sense that a project emerged that is extremely costly, but if successful, would be worth it and then some. ...
1
vote
1answer
116 views
How possible would it be to make a S.C.O.B.Y. the size of a bog in the medieval era?
Assuming a civilization had access to medieval tech, how likely would it be to grow large sheets of SCOBY (Symbiotic Colonies of Bacteria and Yeast,) in order to make a faux leather, by modifying the ...
3
votes
3answers
128 views
How would nanobot replicators affect the economy? [closed]
So the year is 2150 and the first nanobot replicator has been released on the market. They cost about $150 and can produce a cubic foot of material. They can replicate any object that is scanned or ...
4
votes
3answers
146 views
Assuming that the environment of Earth and Mars are similar, is there possible trading between Earth and Mars in current technology?
Let's assume that Mars has an atmosphere, oceans, plants, and animals, even there is some native civilization like John Carter.
Is there any possible trading between Earth and Mars?
I noticed that ...
3
votes
3answers
121 views
19th Century Store Shelves for These Races: Or, I don't want to have ladders in 19th Century shops
I'm looking for the races describes in this questions: Rail Transportation with Races Described Below - Specifically, Seating
These races have their solar power rail systems set up and running. With ...
8
votes
6answers
1k views
Relative value of Biological Humans vs Uploaded Humans
Imagine both humans uploaded into computer networks and biological humans exist in the same society. The uploaded humans have the normal range of human personalities (not an evil-AI-takes-over-the-...
3
votes
6answers
277 views
What basic goods do I need to make a functioning High-Fantasy trade system
This is my first time ever posting. Please let me know If I've done anything wrong and I'll do my best to correct it.
This is my first time attempting to create a functional world in D&D5e and I'm ...
2
votes
3answers
101 views
How can a growing economy function with erratic seasonal changes?
It has been widely confirmed by experts that the alleged " season 8 " of GOT was in fact a mass delusion by the general public due to mass hallucinogenic drugs being dumped into the water ...
6
votes
7answers
645 views
Could a city live in a money-free system in a medieval fantasy setting?
I am currently building a world based in a medieval fantasy setup. View it as if the world got a soft reset and cannot (I say cannot) go further than electricity, and I imagined a village where people ...
2
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4answers
246 views
I want the human galactic empire to have universal welfare, is that possible? If so then what is needed?
I will provide a bit of context. Which can be ignored as the background can be changed or at least the question can be treated as theoretical.
At a certain point in the future a universal welfare ...
2
votes
3answers
181 views
How could one erase a culture? [closed]
Out of a cultured society, an Evil Empire™ has arisen. Naturally, the Evil Dictator™ wants his people to be obedient to him. In this process, he wants to erase his Evil Empire™'s culture. This would, ...
8
votes
4answers
820 views
Single Time Zone on a spherical planet
I am particularly interested in the case of feasibility to have all countries and all regions of our planet, the Earth, to have a unified Single Time Zone (say UTC). Suppose all countries and all ...
6
votes
3answers
394 views
Is the composition of the major asteroid belt bodies different enough to make trade between colonies worthwhile?
For my question I'm assuming that we're talking about colonies on the very biggest bodies that are 100s of kms in size. I'm assuming that by this point humans have become cyborgified/roboticized ...
14
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11answers
4k views
How do I maintain a region of permanent political instability?
A classic trope in media is the country that is constantly having a revolution, with the logical extreme being a geographical region where any map older than a year is woefully out of date as new ...
7
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8answers
2k views
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 ...
4
votes
5answers
177 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
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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 ...
36
votes
13answers
9k views
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 ...