Whose knows economic fantasy (or other) fiction dealing with banks and the magic they perform?
Something like this:
Susan the banker accepted 100 coin from ten people. She'd charge them each 1 coin a year.
Susan the banker spent 10 coin to pay her employees.
Susan loaned out 1,000 virtual coin on banker's IOU's at various interest rates. On average, she'd make 100 coin a year off these investments, if they all did well.
Some did, some did not.
Here's a story of one that failed.
Here's a story of Susan ensuring three succeeded, making each more profitable.
This almost happens in the Dagger and the Coin series, then it becomes about a manchild fighting wars.
Am I going to have to write this?
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Doesn't the story of basically every '60s sci-fi author start with "So I was reading a book and said to myself 'Come on! Even I can do better than this!' "?
ReplyDeleteTony Lower-Basch it goes back further than that. I wish I could recall which decadent author had that as an origin story.
ReplyDeleteMaybe an epistolary novel.
ReplyDeleteLetter one: Susan to the banks holding company, informing them of some changes she is going to make. In particular, that she will be eliminating charges for small accounts.
Letter two through five: Requests to loan money from various businesses.
Letters six through eight: Susan informing the merchants what interest rate, the reason, or simply denying a loan.
Letter nine: A letter from Susan to her local stakeholders, showing her balance sheet.
Letter ten: a letter from the holding company, holding Susan in some contempt for her apparently reckless decision. She'll show them!
Oh, there will be magic. There will be swords. They'll just be implied in the letters.
"Amalgamated Trans-Dimensional: A novel in balance-sheets."
ReplyDeleteTony Lower-Basch That spurred some ideas
ReplyDelete-- first branch of the bank on a new planet, which is backwards by the banks standards
-- messages and goods can only be sent through courier, which is expensive and dangerous. Its fast, but dangerous. Maybe there's a slide rule mechanism to shift from world to world.
-- The bank is here to expand its reach and make money, but to do so it first needs to industrialize some portion of this world so it is profitable.
-- As such, the banker sent doesn't have a lot of gold, but does have a lot of knowledge. She makes investments to spur industry.
And so, the primary magic is knowledge and lending practices, using the interdimensional travel as a plot device and mostly ignoring it.
The job paid very well. And it was easy. When I could remember to be, I was terrified.
ReplyDeleteThe Star-Witch had appeared a week earlier, and after a brief, spectacular demonstration of her abilities, settled down in the conference hall of the Dominion Arms. How she picked me from the applicants I cannot imagine. I had, so far, spent most of the past week announcing members of the Great Council. Each man had borne great casks of gems, or the finest in novel electronics, or papers granting dominion over vast tracts of land ... in one case an entire country.
I know for a fact that none of them went away satisfied.
So far my hardest duty of the week had been cleaning up the mess after the short but final fireworks display that was the Witch's reply to the late Justice Graf's attempt to have his men seize her forcibly.
I was paid too much for doing practically nothing, and my common sense insisted that this alien woman must want to eat me, or experiment on my organs, for that kind of money. I kept meaning to flee, but it was all so ... pedestrian. The Witch was aggressively common in her mannerisms, more like a fish-wife than a sorceress. Just now she was lounging, one leg over the baroque arm of her throne-like chair.
"Grace," she drawled, "is this parade of nonsense really the best your world has to offer?"
"Begging your pardon, m'Lady," I said quickly, "I really wouldn't know about that."
It didn't serve to divert her. "Fah!" she snorted. "I didn't pay all that money for you not to think. Surely you realize that?"
I had realized nothing of the sort, but wasn't about to contradict her. Perhaps if I could mollify her for long enough to get to a door, I could make an escape. "Well, m'Lady," I said, "you don't want riches, or power, or privilege. You say you can teach your arts, and that it doesn't matter who you start with..."
"Oh, it matters," the Witch insisted.
"I just mean, m'Lady," I continued, "that even if you taught ... why, someone common-born like me, I could still end up so powerful that all the world could offer would look ... well, tawdry." She arched an amused eyebrow, but said nothing, so I concluded, "So you don't want anything we have yet. I suppose you'll just have to wait until one of the Lords thinks to ask 'How can I change the world so that we can make something you do want?' "
In an instant, the Witch swung her leg around, took both arms of the chair in her hands and leaned forward looking at me intently. My heart thumped as I realized that I had been a fool to worry that her plans were a threat to merely my body.
"Why Grace," she purred, "what a very interesting question."
I feared for my soul.
First words on paper go to Tony Lower-Basch . A solid page. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI have to go meet a new baby, but here's 250 words.
ReplyDeleteFrom: Susan Craft, Principle
ReplyDeleteTo: Medean Holding
Regards: My Coming Exploits
Koam,
This backwater planet remains my purgatory. They have not yet discovered the joys of coffee, much less compound interest. The principle religion holds all interest as usury, forcing the local magistrate to hold interest as illegal. If only they knew what such an attitude denies them.
I shall have to be clever. Though I loath the necessity, I shall be forced to refer to interest as mere fees. The duplicitousness required makes my skin crawl; have no doubt, this internal discrepancy will not show in my ledger. Interest paid from this branch will continue to be referred to as interest; slowly, the people of this land will treat interest as a positive force.
In my first month, I have begun the process of modernization. I have invested in a miller, a brewer, and a public house. Each will work hand in hand, providing the branch with needed capital at each step. Along with an investment of coin, I have explained to each long forgotten secrets of the craft. For the miller, a water stone. For the brewer, hops. For the public house, tiered and variable pricing.
Of my initial balance of 100 pounds of gold, I have loaned out 1,000 in various IOUs. Payroll for the year, including for the mercenaries to collect when necessary, I estimate at 2 pounds. Currently, the repayment is set at 10 pounds per month.
I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
Susan