Commerce

This a master page to talk about how intraplanetary and interplanetary commerce works in the various multiplanetary nations. Smaller polities, like the Faulfenza and the Eldritch, can have commerce sections on their world pages.

Alliance

Overview

A discussion of how business operate in the Alliance, what it takes to start one, how intergalactic versus planetary trade works, etc.

The Alliance's economy is a gradation from the Core to its farthest colonies, where the Core worlds have cheap energy and the luxuries that energy buys more broadly available to the populace, while the colonies still function on a scarcity model. Because of this, culuturally the Core worlds have less fixation on conspicuous consumption and more on experiential purchases. Oddly, this is mirrored in the extreme fringes, where lack of any goods or services make consumption ill-advised. It's the "suburbs" of the Alliance that create more cultures that like buying things to have things, though of course, there are subcultures everywhere where behavior is different from the norm.

In general, these are the characteristics that raise prices on goods and services:

• Location - Beautiful places remain unique and therefore prized. The real estate (and anything developed on it) near notable planetary landmarks (and on notable planets) remain expensive.
• Mobility - The ability to go from place to place (particularly, interstellar) is still a premium. While it's more likely that someone in the Core will have visited more than one planet, the freedom to travel (and in style) (and to beautiful Locations) is a luxury.
• Exoticism - Unusual items, unique a particular place, fetch good prices, and bring tourists who want to experience it. The importation of unique goods is also a good way to make money. If Aquaria's odd flour makes a bread with an unusual crumb and flavor, then someone is going to want to import Aquaria's flour.
• Concierge - Because so much can be automated, any service done by a real person (whether that's a waiter, a dress designer, or a babysitter) is going to cost more.
• Space - In some cases, the space available to the individual constrains their buying habits.

Governmental

This is where things like taxation, currency (and currency exchanges), intergalactic banking and shipping would go. I believe there's some talk in "Dark Lighthouse" about Pad relay stations used for cargo shipments, that kind of thing would go here.

• Currency
• Fin

Technological Influences

Also needs a better title, but here would go things like 'how do you monetize genie patterns'.

Shipping

Here go things about how much it costs to buy and operate a cargo ship (or shipping line), and other things about interstellar shipping (like insurance costs versus loss, versus pirate capture, etc).

Looks like the typical freelancer either operates on contract or on spec.

Genies

Genies aren't "terribly energy-efficient," and there are apparently genie fees associated with their use which wasn't expounded on . Planetbound people talk about energy budgets, so that might be a common concept. Pieter Strong mentions that "starships don't come from genies," which brings us back to the energy-efficiency issue. And Joyner MakesDo worked in a shop that designed things (furniture?) meant to be machine-assembled or "genie-created."

Laws governing whether you can make genie patterns (for example, when a world has a unique export, they can control whether its pattern can be duplicated by genie, and this is enforced by Alliance law).

Cultural Influences

Needs a better title, but basically this is where 'the Pelted like local businesses' or 'the Eldritch prefer handcrafts' would go. These are the assumptions baked in at the inception of the Alliance that have influenced the four hundred years of progress after.

Known Businesses

Brooke's at Alpha

List of Locations, Businesses, and Organizations

Maven Herd

Phantasies

The Cottage

TKI&I

Other Nations

• Chatcaava: Not sure how much I've talked about business or money in the various Chatcaavan stories, but at very least some discussion of Outside in relation to businesses would go here, for the Throneworld.
• Eldritch
• Faulfenza