Since people apparently enjoy discussing economics here, and it is a mostly history themed board, I propose this thought experiment.
Imagine, like Socrates did in Plato's Republic, a city's origin.
8000 years ago, two clans get together, there are 40-50 people, they settle and live in one place. Around them others are doing the same.
In this very pure, untainted, no ideology and no past history in meddling, in this vacuum-like laboratory environment, which economic system and how and why would you push to implement?
Now, in real life, you must consider that any big change hurts, the path from X to Y is often disastrous, and there is ideology getting in the way, people protesting whats best for them because they've learned to hate and fear it.
But in our aspiring town there is no such thing, and you have a clean sheet to draw what you feel is best.
Try to explain why your suggestion is good, and how it would scale over time as the city grows, foreigners arrive, there is war, there is innovation, famine, crisis, and so on.
Greek cities had a system where the wealthiest citizens were expected to pay publicly from their own pocket for civic expenses.
>>1368779
If there are so few people, 'economics' would not be the term for what they were doing together to get stuff done.
>>1368802
*citation needed
This is socialist propaganda. Greek city states had laissez faire mercantilism
>>1368802
That has more to do with their religious views, as they believed you have to make sacrifices, to the gods and to your polis, to guarantee yourself a good afterlife.
Of course religion can mold economy, especially before an enlightenment period, but speaking strictly economically, this doesn't seem rational.
Although from the greeks we can take the system where every single household has to supply X soldiers and 1/Xth of a ship.
Of course if you don't want to send your sons or go yourself to fight, you can instead pay someone else to go for you, or just pay the amount of money equivalent to your expected contribution as a soldier.
In Egypt everyone was expected to contribute labor to big civil projects - the pyramids come to mind, but I imagine also granaries, bridges, etc if they were applicable. If we apply the greek soldier logic to that, a household would have to either send workers from its own, or hire workers to send, or provide money equal to the cost of the expected labor.
So there is a reason to get rich, and there are perks to it, while you are also useful to big public projects and efforts. Of course the monetary cost would be slightly inflated, so its not a nobrainer to pay others to fight for you, but at the same time a practical solution for the well off.
To get the thread going, I'd suggest looking at the crime punishment system of old, before jail time became common, where people would pay money or equal worth of labor to cover the damage they did, to the state and the victim, and the idea that taxes are something raised only when there is a reason - war, building a bridge, and so on, and tax would imply labor, only if you want to you can replace labor with money.
>>1368822
Its just a word for the strategy your community is employing to increase their wealth and prosperity.
Suggest a replacement word if you dislike it. Also you can jump further in time, with a larger city, if you feel more comfortable working with more people.
>>1368823
The greeks had state economy and retail economy. The former was more organized, while the latter was free market.
This is what I recall from reading The Greeks by Kitto, and from various web papers on it.
>>1368849
So they kept state control over essential industries? The modern equivalent would be?
>>1368875
They kept state control over essential trade, not the industries themselves.
Although there was a sort of democratic dictatorship in a way, as in people could meet at the council and vote that a powerful monopolist be removed and his wealth and holdings distributed, for example.
Sort of a mob rule, if the mob were only composed of the educated and well liked of us, and excluded the failures and lowlifes. Still mob rule though, and it was still public opinion trumping over law. An unpopular rich man would quickly find himself an unpopular poor man, or exile.
>>1368823
>'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''laissez faire''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
>'''''''''''''''''''''''''''mercantilism'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
>>1368901
Suggest an alternative that provides quick growth.
>>1368779
Demurrage currency is the answer to a prospering society.
The currency does not become more valuable over time due to interest but looses value over time.
After a set time, the currency loses a part of their value, giving holders incentive to SPEND it, rather than HORD.
In ancient Egypt, a common demurrage currency was clay tablets that stood a certain amount of grain in granary.
You could exchange these tablets for goods or take it to the granary and demand the grain.
The granary would give out less grain than originally received as compensation for storage and work depending on the age of the clay tablet.
These tablets were used as everyday currency by the general population.
Medieval countries in Europe used demurrage coins between the 12th and 14th century.
The currency usually was very thin coins made from silver (bracteate).
After some time, old coins had to be exchanged with new ones, where you would get fewer coins in return (eg. 4 old ones for 3 new ones)
That was a time, where a normal craftsmen in a city could earn enough to feed a family and workers, build a big house without going into debt and have plenty leftover to throw at whatever he wanted.
The cathedrals build in these times were often financed by donations of the general public.
>I got all this money and it's worth a quarter less in a few months
>well, might as well just give it to the church to get this big ass cathedral up
>this will get pilgrims into our city and helps me make more money!
The reason that this system was abandoned was abuse by rulers, minting new coins more and more regularly, because the extra coins they kept basically were taxes for the minter.
