A Frontier Barter Economy ?

[rust]

Imagine a remote, isolated frontier colony of less than 600 people. They are
able to grow enough food through hydroponics and in their agrodomes, they
have the machines and raw materials necessary to produce the equipment
they need for their everyday lives, and they have enough spare parts and
the necessary tools to keep all the vital systems working and to develop the
colony - slowly - by building new ones.

However, they have nothing to export, and therefore not the money to finan-
ce imports, so traders do not regularly visit the colony. Besides, the colony is
truly remote and isolated, located more beyond the frontier than on the fron-
tier: The nearest agricultural planet is 38 parsec/days away, the nearest in-
dustrial planet 43 parsec/days, and Terra 63 parsec/days.

Still, there will be some ships visiting the colony now and then. Bold explorers
going even further into the unknown, scientists interested in that remote out-
post of civilization, people who have the money to travel wherever they want.
They are likely to need some supplies (food, water, etc.) and perhaps some
basic spare parts or some services (for example the local doctor's) from the
colonists.

The problem is: How do they pay for such goods or services ?

Money is not of much use for the colonists, it could well take a year or more
until they have a chance to spend it, and even longer until they have the op-
portunity to spend it for something they really need or want.
So, the colonists probably would want a more immediate kind of payment for
their goods or services, perhaps some goods or services the visitor is able to
provide - basically, a barter economy.

Provided that my basic idea is somewhat right, what could the barter goods
or services be that a visitor to such a remote outpost should be prepared to
give in return for what the colonists have to offer ?

Thank you for your ideas.

 

[savage]

nothing to export

there is always something...from crafts to mining. What is the UPS?

 

[rust]

there is always something...from crafts to mining. What is the UPS?

Now you obviously caught me cold ... I do not remember what a UPS is.

The technology level of the colony is TL 9, slightly lower than the average
technology of the setting, which is TL 10 bordering on TL 11, and the planet
is a Mars-like somewhat hostile desert world that requires environment suits,
breathing gear and closed habitats with life support systems.

---------------------------------------------------------------

" ... that which we call a wet Vargr by any other name would smell as bad ..."
William Shakespeare's Revised Works, "Romeo and Juliet"

 

[savage]

UPP sorry i was rushed.

It could have rare minerals...underground water supplies might have some unique organics that could be used for meds...etc.

 

[rust]

UPP sorry i was rushed.

No problem.

The UPP (in MGT) is:

Alden E6A0225-9 no base De, Lo, Ni

In my view it should be Poor, too, but the exotic atmosphere does not fit
in with that MGT trade code.

 

[far-trader]

One possible commodity that the visitors will have of immense value to the this far flung outpost is information. Everything from the current entertainment fare to news, maybe even letters from home (which would serve as more of an introduction than anything... "Anybody know a Emma Sackett? I've got a letter from her kin passed on by another trader I met.").

Maybe even more valuable would be information of a more technical type if it's been long enough. Upgrades to their now antiquated equipment, new medicines and procedures for their Doctor(s) to learn, and such.

EDIT: Another thought just popped up, based/stolen from a short story I recently read. The far-flung colony may have a religious belief that their people must be buried in the land they were born in. No problem for the ones born here, but some of the original settlers have passed on and must be buried back home. And traffic out here is so rare that they have a few who need to travel back home to be put to rest. So, that'll be a few dtons of cargo (or lowberths) and a stateroom for their priest. They'll trade passage for what the PCs need. Adventures in the making

 

[rust]

One possible commodity that the visitors will have of immense value to the this far flung outpost is information.

Thank you very much, a very interesting idea - and a perfect base for a
number of fascinating negotiations ("How many dtons of water do you give
me for a data crystal with the latest Sisko Soini movie ?").

Edit.:
And thank you for the "burial plot", too, I will of course put it on the list.

 

[far-trader]

You're welcome rust. I had a quick look for the story to provide the who and where if anyone was interested in reading it (very good tale) but couldn't find it. Don't even recall the title. I think it was in an Asimov or Analog from the last year but I'm not sure.

 

[NightRaven]

"How many dtons of water do you give
me for a data crystal with the latest Sisko Soini movie ?"

When I read that I was thinking of new blueprints, materials and so. Besides, if they have a ship they could have some trading let say... once a year or so, with the nearest system.

If people decide to live isolated is for one reason, the point I can't see is the "we happily say hello to newcomers!" and the isolation altogether; a society like that should be so closed that they probably won't even talk to the traders. Anyway, if your travellers are getting over there the inhabitants could test the "new" traders to check they are trustworthy.

PS.: There's an Andromeda episode about something like that (3rd season I think).

 

[rust]

When I read that I was thinking of new blueprints, materials and so.

The colony in question is one that has only recently been founded. They do
not have a ship, their only regular connection with offworld is the Colonial
Office ship that visits them once each year.
This ship also brings them urgently needed supplies and important informati-
ons - but those important informations do not include much that is just en-
tertaining or interesting.

So, they do get stuff like blueprints and materials (although not always what
they need - the Colonial Office is a bureaucracy ...), but they are doubtless
very "hungry" for anything that is not part of their basic supply line: Movies,
fashion magazines, roleplaying games ...

 

[NightRaven]

More than a colony it sounds like a secret installation! When you settle a new city your efforts are focused to get it connected quickly, so if that's not the case....

I have to go, I have to write down an adventure!!

 

[rust]

When you settle a new city your efforts are focused to get it connected quickly, so if that's not the case....

Think of the colony as the interstellar equivalent of Pitcairn Island, a place
settled because of unusual circumstances and so far away from the core
of the nation as well as from its other colonies that efforts to get it connec-
ted would be either extremely expensive or bound to fail.

 

[Whipsnade]

The problem is: How do they pay for such goods or services ?

Rust,

In same real world manner explorers and traders paid for goods and services from the isolated and primitive peoples they encountered; technological items ranging from the useful to the decorative and rare substances like gold, seashells, and other items used by the society as monetary items.

Realistically, your 600 person colony isn't going to be offering goods or services on even a minor level to visitors anyway.

They could sell a few rations to a passing trader, but the amount of agricultural surplus isn't likely to be great and a starship can find more water more easily in space than on a desert planet. They could provide native guides for the various expeditions close by the colony's territories, but the visitors in orbit will know more about the current state of the rest of the planet than the colonists will.

As happened in the real world, the colonists are going to be far more interested in providing any visitors with goods and services than the visitors are going to be interested in purchasing such goods and services. It's will be a buyers market and the colonists will take what they can, if only for the novelty possible payments can take; i.e. clothing, cast off cooking utensils, discarded tools, "beads", and other "trinkets".

One final method of payment should involve the colony's own "bank account". Unless the colony is a group of castaways, it should have contacts with some off-planet factor or organization if only to ensure a trickle of vital technological imports. That person or group will hold either a line of credit or other financial instruments which are used to purchase those absolutely vital items the colony requires. A scientific expedition could then "pay" the colony for guides, goods, and other services by depositing money in these the off-world "accounts".


Regards,
Bill

 

[rust]

Thank you very much for your ideas.

As happened in the real world, the colonists are going to be far more interested in providing any visitors with goods and services than the visitors are going to be interested in purchasing such goods and services. It's will be a buyers market and the colonists will take what they can ...

Yes, this is what I suspected, and I am glad that I now have a "second opi-
nion" to base my decisions on.
The players will not like to hear that their colonist characters' "negotiation
position" with visitors is rather bad when it comes to barter or other forms of
trade, but I also think that it is quite "realistic" this way.

One final method of payment should involve the colony's own "bank account".

Thank you, I should have thought of this myself - a money transfer could of
course be handled reliably through the Colonial Office, which has the autho-
rity to ensure that the money really is paid once the sum was agreed upon.

As for expeditions on the planet itself, I think that handing over a copy of the
data and findings of the expedition to the colonists would already be a com-
paratively generous payment for the amount of support the colonists are able
to provide to any expedition, but a few gifts (e.g. a couple of reloadable po-
wer cells, etc.) and a little "goodwill money" on the colony's bank account are
prudent means to ensure that the expedition is welcome and treated accor-
dingly, I think.

 

[Whipsnade]

Thank you very much for your ideas.

Rust,

I'm glad to help in any way because this setting of yours is so very intriguing!

The players will not like to hear that their colonist characters' "negotiation
position" with visitors is rather bad when it comes to barter or other forms of
trade, but I also think that it is quite "realistic" this way.

Reality bites sometimes.

The colonists' negotiating position is going to be even worse if the recently arrived visitors are paying the colony through the Colonial Office or some other organization. The visitors could arrive with documentation basically stating that X amount of money has been paid into the colony's account and the colony is now obligated to provide so many guides, so many rations, etc., etc. Colonist players may find themselves "drafted" to provide services to the visiting expedition with the only "pay" they receive being the "room and board".

(Of course expedition members would to either "lose" items or leave behind "damaged" items after the successful completion of the expedition. In this manner, the players drafted into serving the expedition could find themselves with weapons, medical gears, clothing, rations, and perhaps even vehicles.)

Then real fun begins when you remember that the fellow in the Colonial Office negotiated the contract with little or no knowledge of the current conditions in the colony thanks to the lack of FTL communications beyond messages carried by ships.

As for expeditions on the planet itself, I think that handing over a copy of the
data and findings of the expedition to the colonists...

That could be section of the contract the Colonial Office insists on including and something that could lead to tensions between the colony and the expedition.

Imagine that the expedition negotiates for local support in a mineral survey of the the very interesting Umptyfratz Highlands, but is told it must perform a hydrological assessment of the Blortz Basin by the Colonial Office as part of support fee. The expedition could very well perform a cursory assessment of the basin and perhaps even fake one in order to begin the real work in the Highlands that much faster.

... but a few gifts (e.g. a couple of reloadable power cells, etc.) and a little "goodwill money" on the colony's bank account are prudent means to ensure that the expedition is welcome and treated accordingly, I think.

Agreed. The contract may not be exactly what the colonists would have negotiated, but it's better than nothing. Having the expedition hand out or leave behind equipment will be a boon too.


Regards,
Bill

P.S. Any maps yet?

 

[rust]

Thank you again.

Then real fun begins when you remember that the fellow in the Colonial Office negotiated the contract with little or no knowledge of the current conditions in the colony thanks to the lack of FTL communications beyond messages carried by ships.

I have put that one onto my list, because the arrival of an expedition imme-
diately after some kind of natural or technological desaster would force the
colonists to make some tough decisions:
Support the expedition and dangerously deplete the colony's resources, but
get enough money later on to repair and even improve the damaged facili-
ties - or "play it safe", break the contract and send the expedition away to
ensure that the colony's resources will last until the arrival of the next Colo-
nial Office ship ?

Imagine that the expedition negotiates for local support in a mineral survey of the the very interesting Umptyfratz Highlands, but is told it must perform a hydrological assessment of the Blortz Basin by the Colonial Office as part of support fee. The expedition could very well perform a cursory assessment of the basin and perhaps even fake one in order to begin the real work in the Highlands that much faster.

This is another nice one for my list, well suited for a situation where the cha-
racters are the expedition's guides and have a chance to realize that some-
thing is not as it should be ... for example when drills used to search for sub-
terranean aquifers in a depth of 200 meters only add up to 100 meters ...

Any maps yet?

Yep, some drafts at least. However, since I am not exactly an artist, I have
used the outlines of a published planetary map and modified it, and I hesitate
to upload the result because of copyright reasons - over here this would be
a very minor problem, but copyright laws in the USA are rumoured to be ra-
ther tough, so ...

 

[Jason]

I would think that if the colony and the ships that are stopping at it are both from the same civilization they will also share a currency. The colonists will use that same currency among each other, so when a ship comes calling they will simply pay with credits, and the ships will buy goods with credits as well.

 

[rust]

The colonists will use that same currency among each other, so when a ship comes calling they will simply pay with credits, and the ships will buy goods with credits as well.

Since the new colony has not yet developed much of an internal market eco-
nomy, the colonists do not yet have much use for currency: They still work
in colony owned facilities and get their necessary supplies and equipment
from the colony's stores, and there is not much else that they could buy with
money.

 

[Jason]

Since the new colony has not yet developed much of an internal market eco-
nomy, the colonists do not yet have much use for currency: They still work
in colony owned facilities and get their necessary supplies and equipment
from the colony's stores, and there is not much else that they could buy with
money.

But they came from somewhere else, correct? Would they really completely give up the use of money, even if they don't use it day to day? When a ship comes to town I can imagine a lot of colonists running to open up their strongboxes and pull out the currency they haven't used in their day to day lives, or drawing off the "colony stores" of credits to pay the travelers for small items, and accepting credits from the ship for services as well.

 

[rust]

When a ship comes to town I can imagine a lot of colonists running to open up their strongboxes and pull out the currency they haven't used in their day to day lives, or drawing off the "colony stores" of credits to pay the travelers for small items, and accepting credits from the ship for services as well.

Of course, this option is there, I just wonder if it is the worse one of two op-
tions.

To quote myself from the opening post:

"Money is not of much use for the colonists, it could well take a year or more
until they have a chance to spend it, and even longer until they have the op-
portunity to spend it for something they really need or want.
So, the colonists probably would want a more immediate kind of payment for
their goods or services, perhaps some goods or services the visitor is able to
provide - basically, a barter economy."

The colonists will doubtless accept money, but I am almost certain that they
would prefer to get something more immediately useful in the short run, and
if they had the choice between some credits and a gadget that would make
their lives easier from the same day on, I really think they would not hesitate
to take that gadget.

With this background, my question was what those gadgets could be that
spacefarers would keep ready to give to the colonists.