Paper Money

[Watyll 1104]

In Abresi, people go about their business. Children play in the fountain near the city, and the bricks lining the roads are covered in dirt, hay and manure. Mothers carry squealing babies as they walk from shop to shop. As you push through the bustling crowds in the capitol city of Oren, a young boy runs up to you, he clutches two Horens in one hand, and in the other a sheaf of papers. Looking scared he presses one into your hands and runs off without looking back. The scrawling text on the fine paper is obviously written by a highborn. 

 

Paper Money

An Economic Argument Against Monopolies for the Sake of the Empire of Oren

 

Greetings, friends and countrymen. By now you've likely lost the child who I have paid to give this to you. Pay no mind to him, he is but a cog in the machine. Now, I know you have a good pair of eyes, otherwise you wouldn't be able to read this small script I am currently writing in. Have a look around with those eyes. Walk down the street, see who owns every building and every store. What is your answer? It may surprise you that the Goldman Corporation owns so much. The Goldman Corporation has gripped Oren in a monopoly, and a monopoly is bad for business, and bad business is bad for the Empire. Read my arguments, think on them, then decide whether to keep buying Goldman goods or not. 

 

Why monopolies are bad for Oren, and any country in general. 

 

One, in a monopoly, the consumer is exploited beyond reason. For you see, the more companies there are in the Empire, the more competition there is. Competition means one business wants to outdo the other, and get all of your lovely money. When there is competition, prices stay relatively equal, raising the price runs the risk of losing customers to the other business, lowering it runs the risk of losing profit. However, in a monopoly, there is no competition, because everything is owned by one company. Since this one company owns everything, it can raise prices as much as it likes. In addition to this, the monopolist can resist from selling his product to certain people. Say a man from a certain noble house wanted to buy medicine for his wife. Say this man had recently argued with the monopolist. The monopolist can deny the right of the man to buy medicine, and therefore his wife will most likely die. Discrimination is the message here. Economy is all about freedom for the buyer, the consumer. So where is the freedom if buyers are restricted from buying?

 

Two, monopoly reduces output. Monopolists will often deliberately give less items into the market, so that they can charge greater prices for a smaller amount of items. This leads to shortages in goods. 

 

Three, monopolies slow technological development. Think about this for a moment. In a free economy, where there are companies competing(you remember what I said about competition earlier, right?), one company will try to outdo the other by making better and more advanced products. I specifically remember the De Sarkozy's creating quite a bit of inventions in their day. Now, the other company, not to be outdone, will also try to "make the better mousetrap." These companies competing with each other creates new technology, medicine, weaponry, all things benefit from an increase in technological innovation. However, in a monopoly, there is only one company. Why would they try to invent new technology? Nobody is competing with them. The products they pump into the market are making enough profit for them, so why bother with new products. Thus, technology is slowed. Do you want the elves to come up with the next "crossbow?" The orcs? Monopolies cause a technological downhill slope where we, the mighty empire of Oren, might find ourselves bested by those we had conquered in the past. 

 

Four, unemployment and wage lowering. In a competitive market(I do hope you remember this by now, I've pounded it into your skull as best I can), companies have to balance out the number of workers with the cost of wages. In a free economy, companies that provide high wages for workers will get the best workers, but aren't able to higher a lot of them. For companies that provide low wages, they get a lot of workers, but said workers aren't very skilled. This balance is completely upset in a monopoly, as one company controls everything. They can hire as many people as they need, and pay all of them whatever they feel. In this way you have skilled people working at jobs that do not require skill, and being paid very little for it. Since they only need a certain number of people, and can afford to pay all of them, they don't need to hire new people. So, those without jobs number many. If this monopoly continues, the streets of Oren will be crowded with beggars. 

 

So, these are my arguments against the evils of monopoly and the tyranny of Goldman Co. I know some of you might find it quite dry, or are unable to understand it, so I'll simplify it for you: Goldman. Bad. I know some of you might try to hunt down that child and question him, good luck, he's mute. 

 

For those of you who care about the great and powerful Empire we reside in, and show homage to our Emperor, Godfrey the First, I implore you to listen to my warnings and boycott the Goldman company. Start your own smaller businesses! Resist the monopoly!

[ACanadianCraft (Nate) 682]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXpaBQnBvE

[Lynesse {Celia/Jazzy} 398]

Lynesse reads the first paragraph before kicking the little boy send to deliver the message and throwing the piece of paper in the air.

 

"People just can't handle the Goldman."

[Temp 2006]

Temp looks to the note, eyebrow raised. He fans over the paper a brief moment before crumbling the paper and tossing it aside, "Total. Ploughin'. Garbage."

[Nicodemus 6]

Nicodemus, an academic, reads and sighs. "Well... He got most of the reason wrong... But his conclusion is still accurate." He rubs his wrist. "Not that this does any good anyway. The High Treasurer won't listen."

[argonian 14254]

Thomas reads the note with a very confused look on his face. After a few minutes he stops reading it, holds it by his side and asks looking around at the other people that got them, "What the fawk does any of this mean? All I got was Goldman's evil and he can price anything as much as he likes,"

[Z3r05t4r 855]

Men in green tabards with the golden cross of Stafyr start to pin small notes beneath attached letters on announcement boards.

 

A closer look gives a brief text to read:

 

To the Author of the letter of complaint,

 

you are invited to a meeting with the Lord High Treasurer Godwein Stafyr at the Office of the Treasury in Abresi. Please send note, if you wish to attend or not.

 

~ The Treasury

[ImpinAintEZ 442]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXpaBQnBvE

Such a great freakin' movie!