Economy of the Federation

The economic system in use by the Federation is vastly older than the Federation itself. Though it has undergone some signiﬁcant changes, it is essentially the same type of economic system employed by the market-driven capitalist societies before the Disorders and originally pioneered by the British Empire.

The basic standard of currency in the UCF is the Federation Pound Sterling, which, with the lack of any foreign economies against which the Federation can be matched, has an intrinsic value as assigned by the UCF government through the Economic Services department. All ﬁnancial transactions pass through Economic Services, which oversees the United Citizens’ Federation Bank, the enormous entity that holds the assets of all citizens, civilians and corporations in the UCF.

Some have argued that this assigned value on the currency and the price controls imposed on various goods by the Federation are antithetical to the very precepts of Federation society. This is an extremely narrow view to take of the foundations of the United Citizens’ Federation, one which is ultimately fallacious. The true precepts of the Federation show that those things that are truly worthwhile, such as honour, love, loyalty and certainly citizenship, are beyond the reach of money.

In any case, even those who argue against price controls and arbitrary dollar value on moral grounds are forced to concede one thing – without them, the Federation economy, as complex and ﬁckle a beast as has ever lived, could not survive.

Individual Finances

All civilians and citizens of the Federation have an automatic ﬁnancial account that is directly linked to their employment. It can be used to hold other forms of economic gain (such as investments or gifts) but its main purpose is to handle the complexities of employment income and automatic withdrawals through the use of a civilian or citizen unicard. As long as a member of the Federation has access to his unicard or Federal Identiﬁcation Code, he can access the sum of his legal ﬁnancial assets from anywhere in UCF territory.

Because income and ﬁnancial transactions are all handled by the Economic Services division of the government, there is no taxation of any kind. Wages are already controlled, meaning that any ﬁnancial deductions the UCF might need to make to maintain itself have already been accounted for in the balance of civilian and citizen earnings. Costs are controlled in most circumstances, though this occurs more often with citizen enterprises than with civilian businesses.

An individual’s standard of living in the Federation is determined in large part by where he lives. All income from work assignments made through UCF’s Social Services division is based upon the economy particular to Earth itself. Thus, a man working in a toy factory on Earth will receive precisely the same amount as a man working in a toy factory on Shoreridge III or Zegama Beach. On Earth, this income allows him to live comfortably enough, though not especially well. On Shoreridge III, this income would allow a man to live quite comfortably (unfortunately there are no toy factories on Shoreridge III) while on Zegama Beach, it would place him far below the poverty line (fortunately, there are no toy factories on Zegama Beach).

The Poor

The vast majority of the UCF’s civilians is comprised by the poor. They are the labourers, the farmers, the store clerks, the miners and construction workers of the Federation. Though they have limited means and will never go on holiday to Zegama Beach (or likely anywhere else), as productive, working members of the Federation they do not lack for any of their basic needs. So long as a civilian remains employed until retirement (and employment is guaranteed for anyone willing to work) the civilian’s four basic needs of shelter, food, security and a sense of freedom will continue to be met by the Federation.

The Middle Class

Made up almost equally of citizens and civilians, the middle class of the Federation is roughly equal in size to the poor class. The middle class of the Federation is made of university professors, middle management corporate employees, retired Federal Service ofﬁcers, research scientists and small business owners. While they are a far cry from wealthy, they have enough money to afford luxuries, to send their children to university, to own their own home outside of Federation-supplied housing and perhaps even to afford their own health care.

The Wealthy

The wealthy are the smallest strata of Federation society but they have the vast majority of the wealth. Among the wealthy, civilians considerably outnumber citizens, presumably because the civilians, not concerned with society as a whole, have fewer compunctions in their pursuit of wealth. The wealthy members of the Federation are primarily corporate ofﬁcers, owners of companies or people who have inherited the wealth through their families.The wealthy members of the Federation can afford almost anything they might desire, from a private civilian starship to an estate on Zegama Beach.

The wealthy, civilian and citizen alike, wield considerable power in the Federation. Money cannot buy a voting franchise but it can buy inﬂuence. While the wealthy civilian owner of a corporation that makes one of the many required parts for Marauder power armour may not be able to cast a vote, if he has something he wishes to say to the Federal Council, they will almost certainly be willing to hear him and entertain his suggestions.

Macroeconomics

As mentioned above, the economic system of the Federation is hideously complex. Spread out across dozens of worlds and scores of light years, the Federation faces economic hurdles unimagined by any of humanity’s previous governments. This vast amount of territory is another reason the Federation keeps the value of its Pound Sterling set and maintains price controls on basic goods like foodstuffs and fuel. Each stellar colony, or at least every star system, under Federation control has its own economic interests, its own imports and exports, its own standards of living. If they were simply left to their own devices, the prices on basic goods throughout the Federation would vary so wildly from planet to planet that economic chaos would be the only possible result.

Variation in planetary economies, along with the standardisation of income from Social Services employment, already accounts for a great deal of discrepancy among the working classes of the Federation in terms of living conditions. If left unchecked by governmental control, these variations would be too much for the civilian workforce to bear.

Investments

An essential element of the economy, investments are available to any citizen or civilian of the Federation who has the disposable capital to make them. Stated as simply as possible, there two main kinds of investment: direct and indirect.

Direct investment is something beyond the reach of most citizens and civilians of the Federation, lying primarily in the purview of the corporations and the very wealthy. Essentially, direct investment is venture capital. For example, if a corporation is planning to establish an extensive agricultural concern on a just-colonised planet but lacks the money to implement its plans on its own, it may turn to investors (which could be private citizen and civilians or fellow corporations) to solicit investment in its plans in return for a stake in the future proﬁts.

Indirect investment is by far the most common means of investment and works exactly as did the stock markets of the old world democracies. Corporations issue stock certiﬁcates as a means of raising capital. Commodities concerns offer investment in their product, such as the gases mined by ECCO and the Castian Corporation. Lastly, the Federation itself will sometimes issue government bonds to raise capital for a particularly expensive project (or a war). These bonds sell for a set price and represent money the bond holder has effectively ‘loaned’ to the government. After the bond matures (usually ten or 20 years), it can be redeemed for the original purchase price plus a small percentage. Such indirect investment offers the non-wealthy citizens and civilians of the Federation an opportunity to play the market in order to increase their own ﬁ nances and standard of living.

Because the investment market can be so complicated and confusing, there are a number of corporations that have arisen over the years whose sole business is to handle the investments of citizens and civilians. Such corporations purchase huge blocks of stock, allowing individuals to buy into a variety of investment plans they offer. For the average citizen or civilian who does not have the time to constant monitor investments, these corporations offer an exceptionally valuable service.

All stock, bond and commodity transactions are overseen by the Federation itself through its Economic Services department and all such transactions take place in the Federation Stock and Commodities Exchange in London. With the exception of government bonds, however, all investments carry with them a certain amount of risk. Corporations in the Federation can and do fail, usually through the lack of an effective business model or poor management but sometimes simply by chance. Obviously, holding stock in a failed corporation is like holding nothing at all.

Industries of the Federation

The length and breadth of the United Citizens’ Federation and the varied star systems under its control ensure that any industrial concern its citizens might have can be attended to quickly and efﬁ ciently. Mineral resources are only a day or two of interstellar travel away at the most, as is any other kind of necessity or commodity. From advanced materials to massive military machines, there is nothing the people of the Federation cannot make or find.

This environment makes it very easy for even civilians to make money in countless industries. All it takes is capital and the support of either a citizen with Fleet connections or a patron corporation to set up facilities on a distant colony world. Once contracts for supply and provision are secured (a simple process for a business-minded citizen or a well supported civilian) the rest is a matter of hard work and diligence. Most companies in the Federation ﬂounder and fail because of incompetent management or incomplete market research. If a member of the United Citizens’ Federation wants to succeed in business, the key is to cover every angle and persevere through the ﬁrst year or two of slow commerce.

While there is no ofﬁcial evidence to support such a claim, there are persistent rumours on the more remote colony worlds that the Federation actually manipulates planetary and interplanetary economies to stiﬂe civilian businesses in favour of similar citizen enterprises, even if the latter are not as competitive or produce goods of equal quality.

Why Have Money?

Some of the more dogmatic members of the Federal Council, the same people opposed to assigned Pound Sterling value and price controls on various goods, have argued that money itself is an outdated concept that is not in keeping with Federation principles. They decry Pound Sterlings and ﬁnancial transactions as an archaic form of social control used in the past but no longer relevant in the tightly controlled modern age and they deplore the corrupting inﬂuence they see it can have on society. After all, they argue, there are no competing economies for the Federation to measure itself against, so why not dispense with money altogether?

Each time this movement gains support, behavioural scientists move to block it; they claim that without money and the illusion of freedom it provides, social anarchy would result. To date, this argument has been borne out in limited testing and so the economic model of the Federation has remained the same since its inception. The most recent example of such testing, conducted in Montevideo in 2154, was perhaps the clearest indication of the folly of this plan. For the test group, money was eliminated as an element of the social order. Civilians in the group were told to work to the best of their ability, for their own betterment and for that of the Federation. In return, all the needs of each subject would be met by the Federation equally. The result was catastrophic. Without the ‘carrot’ of ﬁnancial prosperity, nearly 99% of the test subjects stopped working entirely; merely relying upon the state to give them everything they needed and contributing nothing back. The results were so clear-cut that the experiment, which was intended to run for half a year, was terminated after slightly more than a month.

The Economy and Individual Income

For most citizens and civilians of the Federation, the greater economy, with its bewildering complexity and mercurial nature, is not something with which they need to concern themselves. They do their jobs, whatever those might be, collect their pay and, if there is anything left over, they might invest it through one of the corporations that caters to such needs. The average income of a citizen or civilian in the Federation does not allow for such extravagances as direct investment, or in ‘playing’ the stock and commodities market.

Federation economists commonly track a great many economic and population-based trends, continuously collating information so that the Economic Services division of the government may reliable advise the Federal Council on the efﬁcacy of the price and market controls the UCF government keeps in place, adjusting them as needed. Among these are average income numbers for citizens and civilians, which are tracked separately and commonly show a fairly large dichotomy between the two groups.

Federation social scientists tend to explain this dichotomy as evidence of the soundness of one of the Federation’s guiding tenets – those with the moral and mental stamina to enter Federal Service and earn their franchise as a civilian are by deﬁ nition better prepared to deal with the tests and turmoils of life than those who lack it. Of course, there are some civilians with wealth almost beyond imagining but they are by far the minority, as evidenced by the average income statistics gathered by Economic Services. Adding to the dichotomy, of course, is the fact that citizens have a wider range of job opportunities available to them upon earning their franchise. As a result of their service to the Federation, citizens often enjoy a higher pay rate than civilians in the same job. Rather than the unfair discrimination some people see this as, however, there are solid reasons for this difference in pay. As the citizen has already proved himself through Federal Service, he is an obvious candidate for advancement in his chosen career outside of Federal Service. Any additional pay received by the citizen (usually no more than 15 to 20 percent more than his civilian counterpart) is intended as compensation for the additional demands made upon the citizen as he prepares to ascend the corporate (or governmental, or any other) ladder.

Though there is, obviously, some year to year variation in the data collected, the average incomes of civilians and citizens has remained in the same neighbourhood every year for the past two decades of data collection. According to the most recent numbers, gathered and compiled for the year 2318, the average income for a civilian is F£23,495, while the average income for a citizen is F£31,817.

The chart below shows the average income for 20 different employment opportunities within the Federation. All incomes for Federation-supplied employment are based off the income provided by that particular employment on Earth, and private employment tends to follow suit – offering employees the same amount no matter where they happen to work. There are some exceptions to this, of course. In order to bring workers to its Castus mining facilities (and to improve morale among those there) the Castian Corporation offers substantial wage increases and even bonus packages for supervisory level employees. Ultimately, depending upon where the job is and what precise duties it entails, the incomes listed below may vary by as much as 10 or 20 percent. However, the chart does provide a good general idea of where each profession stands within the ﬁnancial heirarchy of the Federation economy. Additionally, the chart indicates whether the profession is open to anyone, or only those who have earned their franchise as citizens.

Average Annual Income by Profession

Profession	Citizen?	Civilian?	Annual Income
Common labourer	Y	Y	F£10,000
Mobile Infantry private	Y	N	F£12,000
Fleet lieutenant	Y	N	F£13,250
Clerical worker	Y	Y	F£14,250
City councillor	Y	N	F£18,000
Schoolteacher	Y	Y*	F£18,500
FedNet reporter	Y	Y	F£19,500
University professor	Y	Y	F£28,750
Blue collar craftsman	Y	Y	F£29,000
Architect/engineer	Y	Y	F£32,250
Police ofﬁcer	Y	N	F£32,500
Doctor	Y	Y	F£34,500
Middle management	Y	Y	F£39,750
FJD attorney	Y	Y	F£43,750
Governor	Y	N	F£50,000
Mobile Infantry general	Y	N	F£75,000
Corporate vice president	Y	Y	F£107,500
Corporate executive	Y	Y	F£283,250
Actor	Y	Y	Varies
Athlete	Y	Y	Varies

Common Labourer

The lowest rung of employment in the Federation, the common labourer is the also one of the most common levels of civilian employment. Relying heavily upon Federal subsidies, the common labourer staffs the factories, farms, construction sites and mines of the Federation.

Mobile Infantry Private

A member of the Mobile Infantry who is fresh out of boot camp.

Fleet Lieutenant

All freshly minted Fleet ofﬁcers receive this pay grade.

FedNet Reporter

With the exception of a very few well known FedNet personalities, reporters receive a very small income from their work at FedNet.

Police Officer

This is the average pay for police ofﬁ cers throughout the Federation. There are some variations based on the wealth of the community that employs the ofﬁ cer, as well as how long the ofﬁ cer has served on the force.

Mobile Infantry General

Though the low pay of a private is a source of constant, not always good humoured joking in the Mobile Infantry, there is no question that those who have devoted their lives to it, as generals have, are well cared for.

Actor

An actor is anyone who makes his living acting, either on the stage or in a FedNet program. There is no real average (or even starting) income for such a person, as the pay varies so widely. On one end, many actors work for no pay whatsoever, participating in small, local events for their own enjoyment. On the other end are the great stars of FedNet, whose names are household words across the Federation and who receive millions of dollars for every performance.

Athlete

Much like an actor, there is no real average (or starting) income for athletes. Some play for minor teams in unpopular sports and are paid little more than pocket change. Others play for the best teams in the Federation, the kind whose matches are watched religiously by billions of people, and who make millions of dollars per season.

Architect/Engineer

This category includes any individual with highly specialised technical skills, usually with at least one university degree. In encompasses everything from designing buildings and vehicles to maintaining computer networks. The income listed is the average base salary for someone just beginning their career in this ﬁ eld; with experience and a proven record of ability, it can go much higher.

Blue Collar Craftsman

This category includes all skilled tradesmen in factories, food service jobs, construction and service industry jobs, transport drivers, by-the-hour labourers and other jobs that are usually not considered to be desk jobs such as electricians, mechanics and plumbers or anyone else who makes his living through skilled labour.

Schoolteacher

Any teacher in a Federation-funded school teaching children younger than 17 years of age.

University Professor

Anyone who teaches at the university level; anyone not an active member of the military who teaches Ofﬁ cer Candidacy School in the Mobile Infantry or Fleet.

Doctor

A doctor can be a physician (general practitioner or specialist), a surgeon, a reconstruction expert (dealing with cybernetic replacements), a geneticist, a psychiatrist or from some other biological speciality ﬁeld. The income for doctors can vary dramatically. The income listed is for general practice doctors who work at Federation health clinics. Those doctors who choose to enter private practice and restrict their services to a handful of wealthy clients may earn far more than the listed amount, as can doctors who are acknowledged experts in a specialised ﬁ eld of medicine.

FJD Attorney

The listed income is the standard pay rate for lawyers with the Federal Justice Division for their ﬁ rst ﬁ ve years of service. Attorneys who open their own practices, or who are retained as counsel by corporations, may earn far more than the public defenders and prosecutors at FJD.

Clerical Worker

This category includes administrative assistants, ﬁ le clerks and others whose job primarily involves handling data. This is one of the few job classiﬁcations within the UCF government open to civilians.

City Councillor

This is the salary paid to every city councillor in the Federation. The position is usually not tremendously demanding, allowing the councillor to hold a separate job in addition to his duties as an elected ofﬁ cial.

Governor

The position of governor is a demanding one, all the more so because it is usually held by people who are capable of making far more money than this in the private sector.

Middle Management

The legions of corporate employees who are responsible for one small facet of the corporation’s work and who oversee a handful of people ﬁ t into this category, as do those who are responsible for overseeing larger pools of labourers, such as mine foremen.

Corporate Vice President

Ranking just below executives, corporate vice presidents tend to oversee different divisions of the company.

Corporate Executive

One of a handful of top ranking executives in any corporation. The income given is merely the average. For the executives of major corporations like the Morita Arms Company or the Castian Corporation, the pay may be many times the average.