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Re: Interrogate An Isateian Philosopher of Economics
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:52 pm
by DanielH
How common are transactions where the full details are not known beforehand, like the blind auctions of Earth or wild magery of Thilanushinyel? Are they avoided, or handled specially in some way?
Re: Interrogate An Isateian Philosopher of Economics
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:28 am
by Alicorn
Blind auctions in the sense of sealed bids are more common than other auctions in situations where the seller does not feel entitled to capture as much as possible of the potential gains from trade as they might from a standard auction. Vickrey auctions are also common and serve the same purpose even more so. The information about what others are willing to pay is mostly relevant in cases where there are many instances of the item for sale, and so auctions in general are commonest with unique items, but they are not forbidden in other cases, such as when the seller is unsure of the value of their item in its particular condition or if there is a constrained market (e.g. a non-transportable object such that only people nearby are reasonable potential buyers).
The Wild Magic is another matter, and deeply discomfiting, but not strictly impossible. An Isateian who was willing to give anything for the result they hoped to accomplish with wild magic, or trusted the wild magic to be fair, could potentially be a wild mage, albeit not without some sacrifice of comfort. The magic does not seem personable enough that one could reasonably consider it a friend and except it from per-transaction fairness.
Re: Interrogate An Isateian Philosopher of Economics
Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2016 12:42 am
by DanielH
Much has been written recently of the Elves and Dwarves of Arda. What would you say about their economies? Obviously the dwarves are more similar to you in several respects, although there seem to be differences in e.g. the ability to buy discretion. I am particularly curious about how you think an Isateian economy would be organized in a place like Valinor with no material scarcity.
Frankly, even I am surprised the gift economy worked at all in Doriath; that probably would not work as well with humans unless the population is smaller than I believe it is. I could imagine it working for us in specific situations similar to those in Doriath, though, while I doubt there is any way your people could be induced to even attempt that.
Re: Interrogate An Isateian Philosopher of Economics
Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2016 4:13 pm
by Alicorn
The Dwarves are certainly more similar to us than any other residents of their world. The Elven economy is not obviously any such thing. In Valinor we would tend to conceptualize all raw materials as gifts from the Valar and would either need to source alternative items or owe the Valar the sort of open-ended recompense our current society arranges for us to owe to itself as a whole.
A gift economy would not work for Isateians unless it happens that under certain circumstances of upbringing we can be induced to find gratitude valuable in a sufficiently concrete manner to find it to discharge the obligation of a gift. Even then, it would be substantially different and it seems likely to degrade into a non-gift economy in short order.
Re: Interrogate An Isateian Philosopher of Economics
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 10:58 am
by rockeye_stonetoe
If a commodity has a sudden, sharp change in value (for example, a very desirable new use is discovered and publicized for a relatively rare mineral that previously had low demand), how is this dealt with? Are there any price stabilization measures or similar?
Would commodities/currencies that are magical (such as Ka, Takkarash, Dyne, or Chron from the OTC) be treated as a commodity or a currency? Would they be subject to any special procedures or rules?
Re: Interrogate An Isateian Philosopher of Economics
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:13 am
by Alicorn
Prices stabilize on their own eventually. Of course within our own economy there is no desire to take untoward advantage of information asymmetries if the new demand is announced asymmetrically, and there are arbitration procedures if the news breaks while negotiations are in progress for some mineral-related concern.
These "currencies" lack some of the virtue of fiat currency, particularly an inability to inflate and deflate freely. While an issuing authority can - especially with digital currency - produce and destroy arbitrary amounts of fiat, magically backed units are subject to the willingness of economy participants to invest resources of real value. The system would also seem to complicate lending. As our economy does not currently feature these commodities no special procedures are currently in play.