Economy
The Electorate operates primarily a market economy.
Banking
Banking is loosely regulated with a number of private banks operating. Over the course of its existence, the Electorate government has created and disbanded a variety of central banks. Currently, the central bank is operated by a coalition of private banks in conjunction with the Treasury.
Unlike the Dominion, usury is legal, and common.
Currency
Abbey Channing explains Electorate currency
“So in the Dominion, you have one bank right, that issues all your Dominion Money?”
“Well, here we have many banks, and any of them can issue their own money. Those are Bank Notes, and they’re a promise for that bank to redeem the note for legal tender or specie. Most banks accept other banks’ notes but the exchange rate varies, and most merchants accept most banks’ notes, but they may haggle over value.
“I mentioned the Bank of Gateway earlier because that’s where you’ll eventually be getting off, and Bank of Gateway Notes are widely used there.
“In the early times, that all got a bit confusing, with different names for different notes and different exchange rates, so the government created the Standard – a common currency against which all the different bank notes could be pegged, and then created a central bank to issue it. That’s a whole other story I won’t go into.
“The Standard is the default trade currency against the Dominion Money at 10:1, or one Standard to one of your Deci’s. Lots of people use the Standard, and merchants are required to take them at face value. Doesn’t mean they won’t haggle over the value of what they’re selling, but they can’t haggle over the value of the currency.
“Commodity Notes are issued by banks, but also commodity traders. A Commodity Note is backed by something tangible – usually a fixed quantity of something that the bearer can redeem, but often just the notes are traded. Again, value is measured against the Standard. There’s usually a notional value at issue, but people often haggle based on current value of the commodity.
“We also have specie coins, which are usually precious metal and derive their value from what they’re made of. Again, they’re usually issued by banks, but anyone can mint a specie coin and use it in trade as long as they mark it according to law.”
“Banks will issue you a card denominated in their Bank Notes, or sometimes Commodity Notes, if you want, like your Money cards, but we don’t use them aboard ship.”
Notes
With the exception of specie, all Electorate money is paper notes of various forms.