Fwurg

[Veolian Commonwealth]

((OOC: This thread takes place on Mirda, in the capital city. This thread is private to the following factions: Astai Republic, Astrian Colonial Authority, High Chiefdom of Skuldda, Hiocan Society, IO Protocol, New Communist Imperium of the Rising Suns of Deominius, Praetorian Empire, Sundarian Federation, Teprogrenaian Consensus, Unified Republic of Darya, and the Veolian Commonwealth.))

Aerial image of the Mirda Inter-Galactic Convention Centre.

Even though the conference buildings have undergone significant restructuring for this event, the conference building still rises from the ground as if it it were a natural occurrence in the landscape. Each delegation has been assigned their own 'tower' in the conference complex. Each of these towers has been fitted with correctly sized interior, atmospheric conditioners and upholstery to suit the delegations.

The entrances to the conference grounds are guarded by highly visible imperial guards. The areas surrounding the conference grounds are patrolled regularly by military personnel, and security checkpoints are instituted to ensure that certain materials and weapons do not get near the conference grounds.

The grounds are navigable by walking, and direction signs point the way to all relevant locations (both in galactic basic, as well as in the native scripts of the respective delegations). Special care has been taken to ensure that the IO can be present in most of the public locations of the conference building. This is done through an extensive array of holonet projectors and directional audio devices.

Arriving delegations had to go through several security checkpoints before they are allowed entry to the conference grounds. People not on the official member list send in by each delegation are not allowed in.

The summit itself should have started already, but was delayed by a day due to security concerns regarding the large number of non-delegation visitors to the capital. Measure have been taken to ensure the safety of the delegations.

[Empress Saret Neferti]

The veolian first empress, empress Saret Neferti, opens the summit.

"Honoured dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to welcome you to the first G-22 Intergalactic Economy Summit. I will keep this short, as the summit has already been delayed by a day.

With the end of the Mandalorian war and the receding recession, it is time for all members of the Union to look towards the future again. With this summit we hope to kick off this renewed growth on a positive note. I heard that several of the delegations have already started preliminary negotiations on possible trades.

The summit will also offer a platform for dialogue between economists and politicians. I look forward to visiting the different discussions later in the summit, and look forward to hearing intersting talks on the merits and flaws of the Union's economy.

And now, before the programme is announced, I would like to give the floor to give Cror Burchi, renowned economist of the Confederacy of Excaria. He will speak to use about comparative advantage."


"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cror Burchi!"

[Cror Burchi (mask of Storyteller (Brend))]

A man stepped out onto the podium with a quick and energetic pace, waiting for the obligatory applause to die down before stepping forward and looking out into the crowd.

"When I was younger, I travelled back home from college and on my connecting flight, I was sitting on the transport opposite a much older Ithorian man. He was a happy man, with sagging skin and a warm smile who offered me some of the gumdrops he had brought as munchies.

We got to talking and after I told him about myself, he told me that he was a docter, but in his youth he had studied economy, and he had - in fact - published research in this field, just as I was doing at the time.

Now, I thought this was a bit of an odd switch so I asked him "why did you become a doctor if you were trained as an economist? His answer: if I had become an economist, you'd have to become a docter..."

He paused for a moment.

"It would not be until later that I realise the wisdom of this docter."

He paused again before continuing.

"Whenever we choose to do something, we also choose not to do a large number of other things. Sure, we may tell ourselves we will do those 'later', but that later may never come and even if it does, its far into the future.

When I chose to become an economist, I also chose not to become a doctor. I can only spend my time in this universe once, just as members of the Union can only fill a zone once.

Suppose that both Niom and Excaria each need 2000 Healthcare Products - i.e. docters - and 2000 Research - i.e. economists.

With people like our Ithorian, Niom can produce some 225 Research per zone and 250 Healthcare per zone. Thus, they would need 9 Research Zones and 8 Healthcare Products zones to fulfill their own needs.

I'm a better economist than I am a doctor, so lets presume for a moment that Excaria can produce 200 Research per zone and 185 Healthcare Products per zone. We'd need 10 Research zones and 11 Healthcare Products zones to meet our own needs.

Clearly Niom has the better deal. It needs only 17 zones to fulfill its own needs, while Excaria needs 21. It is in fact, more efficient in everything!

But what if Niom focussed itself on producing only Healthcare and trading it with Excaria? It could produce 4000 Healthcare Products using 2x8 = 16 zones. And Excaria could produce only Research - it could produce 4000 Research using 2x10 = 20 zones.

Effectively, Niom has increased its production of Research to 250 per zone by producing and trading Healthcare Products while Excaria has increased its productivity of Healthcare Products to 200 per zone by producing and trading Research!

This is the power of comparative advantage, and something which I hope you all will considder when choosing the future path for your own economy.

Let economists be economists. Let docters be docters. Share the responsibility of production. For even if you are better at everything, it can still be beneficial to trade.

That is the message the wise Ithorian gave to me, and the message with which I leave you.

Now go out there and trade some! Thank you!"
Cror Burchi

[Veolian Commonwealth]

((OOC: On the advise of Elmer, I will be posting three talks a week, to keep the flow going while not overwhelming people with text. Also, this thread can be used for general socializing.))

After Cror Burchi's enthusiastic keynote talk, an older veolian man walked onto the stage to announce the summit programme, and to announce some last minute changes to the programme.

G-22 Union Intergalactic Summit

2014-4-6: Opening and introductory talk "Comparative Advantage"

2014-4-6 - 2014-5-4: Talks and discussion panels. This segment of the programme is divided into three tracks. Each track will host several short talks, followed by a discussion panel. Three tracks are available:

• Macroeconomics: Intergalactic scale production and specialisation
• Financing: Investments, loans and financial instruments
• Interstellar Logistics: Transportation, both scaling and efficient

2014-5-5 - 2014-5-10: Left open for meetings between representatives
2014-5-11: Closing ball

He continued to announce that a number of speakers are still travelling to the summit, but that he is certain that they will arrive on time.

And finally he gives directions to the areas where each of the three tracks will kick off today:

• Macroeconomics: 5 talks will be given in the Starlit hall
• Financing: 3 talks will be given in the White Light hall
• Interstellar Logistics: 3 talks will be given in the Twin Suns hall

The first talks wouldn't be for another two hours. Allowing the delegations to mingle and socialize.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

The closing ball will be in the Starlit Ballroom