ECONOMICS

ECONOMICS AND THE ALIEN TRAVELER

It’s a damn big universe out there, and a being always needs a little cash to get things done. Relying on the kindness of strangers, or the altruism of traders, merchants and ships crews won’t get you anywhere. Cold hard cash or credit will open a lot more doors than blasters will, and certainly a hell of a lot more than looks or charm. Everything has a price. Everything.

However, getting stuck in a small corner of the galaxy with the wrong type of money can be almost as bad as getting stuck with none.

CURRENCY

Only 2 currencies exist that have anything like universal acceptance; the Pax Humanis Credit (P£) and the Voight Taylon (T). Any other form of currency is either regional or species limited, and on the whole will be useless outside the system it originated in. With this in mind, a number of different options are available to the traveler.

High grade electronics, trade goods, food-stuffs and medical supplies are often taken by free-traders or merchants if dealing with systems where the currency is less than worthless outside the system (or even off planet). Many less…reputable independent traders often wind up using something resembling barter for their whole existence, as they deal with several different systems, none of which have compatible monetary units.

A number of exchange systems do exist, normally exchanging ‘local’ currency for Taylons, or more unusually, Pax Credits. Some are run by one of the Voight Trading families, of whom House Terras and J’san specialise in banking and fiscal matters. Others are run by enterprising locals, or, in shadier areas, the Lambda Syndicate often have a hand in these exchange arrangements, often taking the opportunity to ‘clean’ their own earnings. No matter who runs these operations, one thing anyone using them will find is that you always pay through the nose for the service. On average, between the commission and poor exchange rates, you’ll get around 70% of the value of your exchange currency in real terms. In criminal proceedings, this can be far worse.

 Taylons.

Voight Taylons are, normally, accepted just about anywhere. The Voight are so wide-spread and deal with so many systems, that most places with any kind of intergalactic shipping will take Taylons as payment, although grumbling and surcharges may well be added the further away from Voight space you get. Naturally, Taylons are ‘technically’ unacceptable on any Pax SDA world. However, since the Voight are still allowed to trade with these worlds, you’ll normally get a fairly good price equivalent. On Pax Core worlds however, Talyons are regarded as valueless coloured discs.

Taylons are thin, coloured discs of a poly-carbon alloy. In their minting, they have a complex and inert molecular ‘circuit’ built into each disc. This allows for a very easy check to ensure they are not fake or counterfeit, and it is a foolish individual that tries to utilise counterfeit Taylons when dealing with the Voight, who have easy access to the checking technology.

The denominations are as follows

White = 1 Taylon

Red = 10 Taylons

Blue = 100 Taylons

Green = 1000 Taylons

Black = 10,000 Taylons

PAX CREDITS

Pax Humanis credits are supposed to be the monetary standard for the universe. At least, that was the vision for Gabriel. After all, a single, united hegemony doesn’t require multiple currencies. It is this factor, amongst many others, that the Voights object to.

Pax Credits are non-exchangeable, at least, according to Pax they are. Any Pax SDA or core world will not accept any other form of payment currency. This may well be true on core worlds, which don’t trade with anyone, but on SDA planets, where the Voight still trade freely, Taylons are almost as acceptable. Pax Credits are accepted by some other worlds, simply because so many production worlds are under Pax SDA now, that spending them is fairly easy. However, there are many worlds where attempting to pay with Pax credit is seen as a gross insult.

Credit comes in 2 forms.  The first is the credit spike. This is an inert data-wafer, which stores a theoretically unlimited number of credits. Spikes are credited or debited from electronic ‘swipes’ at retail or banking locations, or a personal ‘swipe’ carried by individuals. The spikes are carefully manufactured, meaning fraud and illegal tampering with the number of credits on a spike is exceptionally difficult. The spikes are non-personal, so loosing a spike is no different to loosing a wallet or purse full of Taylons.

The second form of credit, sometimes called a trade credit, takes the form of small ceramic oblongs. These oblongs have exceptionally intricate microscopic patterns etched into them, which denote both denomination and authenticity. Again, forgery is exceptionally difficult. These trade credits can be minted to any value as requested at a Pax banking facility, where a credit spike would be drained to provide the credits involved. The reverse is true, and a trade-credit can always be exchanged for a credit spike charge of the same value. Unusual value trade credits are destroyed once exchanged for a spike-charge. Mundane value trade-credits are produced in base 10 values.

EXCHANGE RATES

The rate of exchange between Pax credits and Taylons is roughly 1.5 to 2.0 Credits to the Taylon (due to the more flexible nature of the Taylon). That rate is normally pretty stable wherever you go.

‘Local’ currency exchange is normally between 3 to 5 currency units to the Taylon, and that’s before any ‘commission’ from the money-exchangers is slapped on. The only place this doesn’t normally occur is with the Voight, who often sell goods for favorable rates to the locals, to ensure a dependent and happy consumer base.