Post by Icyferno on Sept 14, 2015 15:11:45 GMT
Status: Healthy / Rested
~
The library is a strange place, for it is one where many things occur, ranging from the clues to start a new questline, to information about certain mobs such as attack pattern, behaviour and habitat, to even more mundane things like the level of technology of Londinium. It was the last topic that the Swashbuckler just so happened to be delving into at this time, simply because he felt it interesting to compare this new world’s things to whatever little he knew of the old world. The Ripper Jack which usually followed him, a shady character at first glance, was away at the moment, busy attempting to grow itself a friend in the form of a pumpkin plant in a ceramic pot filled with soil discreetly taken from the Windsor Greatwood. Not that he felt that it was such a good idea though, considering the fact that he did not really see any pumpkins in the forest, nor many fruit-bearing plants. Well, whatever makes Skuggi happy, though this time will likely end in failure. It was not like it even had the Farmer subclass, if mobs could even have subclasses in the first place.
The topic he just so happened to be researching was economics. It was one of the topics he undertook while still in school, and was one of the topics which he felt was fairly applicable to his future life. That is, if he did not end up here. Still, it was worth comparing notes, if only to refresh his memory and perhaps shed some new light on how to best survive and thrive.
One of the major things he had noticed was due to the low level of technology, concepts such as globalization, which allowed for the increasing ease of movement of people, ideas, goods and services between economies, were completely absent from Londinium. Of course, whether or not the Adventurers will be able to recreate the means to cause the rise of globalization once more remains to be seen. Still, it would be good to review the topic of globalization, if only to pass the time since he would rather not go hunting and stuff. Why hunt when just thinking would net you experience points?
The theory of Comparative Advantage states that a country should specialize in producing a good that it has a lower opportunity cost in, and import the rest of the goods from other countries who specialize in them. To illustrate, a developing nation would be more likely to specialize in labor-intensive industries, while developed countries tend to lean to more value-added ones such as medicine and computer systems. Thus, globalization allows for a country to consume beyond their Production Possibility Curve, or PPC for short, as they can import goods and services from another country, which essentially means they consume beyond their means. Also, this causes a broadening of markets, as local shops and firms can now expand their operations overseas, allowing them to reap the benefits of economies of scale to reduce the marginal cost of production, which results in a lower final price of goods and services and reaching a wider consumer base in other countries, increasing export revenue for an economy.
The sudden competition between firms which have gone global also reaps benefits for the consumers as well. Increased competition between firms result in more innovations to increase the quality of the product, lower prices due to competition and investment in research and development to invent new products to stay ahead of competitors. This allows consumers to have a wider variety of goods at a cheaper price, increasing their material standard of living.
Yet as wonderful as the concept of globalization may seem, when someone wins, someone has to lose. In his world, countries were split between developed and developing, with the developed nations having strong economies, good infrastructure and a high standard of living and developing countries having poor infrastructure and a low standard of living as their technology has lagging behind those of the developed countries. Most developing countries were once colonies of the developed countries, so any money they made used to be sent back to their master, thus certain countries grew extremely rich and became the developed countries they are today. If memory serves him right, Australia should still have been paying the United Kingdom annually since the land belongs to the Queen, or something along those lines.
One of the issues caused by globalization comes from the movement of free labor. Skilled labor in the form of doctors and researchers often seek the highest pay, and as such developed nations bring these laborers over with an attractive salary and other benefits. As a result, the economies of these developed nations reap the benefits of an increased productive capacity, resulting in an increase in the aggregate supply, which is the total supply of all goods and services in the country, allowing economies to reap benefits on a macroeconomic level. On the other hand, it is not a picture of roses for the developing nations, as they struggle to keep their best brains from developed countries, leading to a brain drain as talents seeking better pay leave for the developed countries who offer much more than what their home nations ever could. Thus developed countries enjoy a qualitative and quantitative increase in labor at the expense of developing nations, allowing developed countries to strengthen their comparative advantages while the poorer nations still struggle to catch up to their wealthier counterparts and move up the value chain. Not only do the poor nations lose their talented workers, foreign direct investments may choose to relocate their investments, resulting in a fall in aggregate demand as it is comprised of C, I, G, and (X-M), thus when I falls, AD falls, leading to a multiple decrease in output, employment and national income through the multiplier effect. That is, if economic concepts could even be applied to this situation at all, considering monsters carry gold and all.
It should also be noted that one of the ways the poorer nations attract investment from wealthier countries is through lax environmental regulations, which lead to worsening environment damage as firms do nothing to curb their environment impact, leading to widespread deforestation and pollution in poor nations, reducing their non-material standard of living. It is a form of negative externality resulting from the overproduction of factories, resulting in welfare loss and hence, market failure as well.
Local firms in developing nations would also be threatened by the foreign brands rushing in to spread influence in a new market, leading to an increased dependence on exports and higher unemployment as jobs are ‘exported’ to other countries. Should they wish to delve into a new industry, developing nations would face tough competition from international brands, forcing them to either rely on them or pay heavy costs to start up and protect their fledgling industries.
That was not so say that globalization was completely not in favor of developing nations, however. Globalization allows for the flow of technology from developed to developing, allowing the poorer countries to skip years of research when investors bring in technology as they invest in the country and reap the some of the benefits of a developed country as labor is outsourced to cheaper alternatives in poorer nations, leading to rising unemployment for low skilled workers in developed nations. You could say it was a lot like the Adventurers bringing knowledge of a modern world to a relatively low-tech era like this one. Free movement of labor, while detrimental in the form of brain drain, also allows low-skilled workers from developing nations to migrate to developed nations to work, as these wealthy countries have need of low-skill workers who are willing to take a lower wage.
Also, the developing nation would experience increased trade as they gain access to other markets, allowing them to sell their products to the world at a more price competitive level as compared to developed countries, increasing their national income. However, it should be noted that some countries chose to practice protectionism and set tariffs, quotas and other measures in place in an attempt to reduce such benefits.
In the end, though, it was up to the government to intervene and maximize the benefits while minimizing the costs, as if left to the free market, their country may fall into a perpetual cycle of poverty. However, this would likely be dependent on the government’s ability to do so.
Well, that was a fairly lengthy thought process. He wondered if he was copying that all from a textbook of some kind. It was not like there was even a government here in Londinium, right?
He felt that Londinium was kind of a developing country, with no developed country to provide costs and benefits. Maybe it was something like how the colonial masters felt when they acquired colonies? Perhaps if he were to consider Adventurers as the 'developed country', bringing in new technology into a 'developing country', would this 'developing country' become a 'developed country' when compared to its neighbours after a year or so. It was an interesting prospect, for such a result would bring much stimulus to the Londinium economy as Lander merchants scramble for a piece of Adventurer technology. If one were to play his or her cards right, then it would be possible to become a weallthy Adventurer living in a mansion with a whole troupe of Lander servants to manage finance and such while the Adventurer does whatever he or she wants, be it adventuring, researching or just lazing about. Hopefully, he would be one. Stretching his arms, he looked out of the window to the quiet library out onto the streets of Londinium. This was a fairly quiet area, so there were few people walking around, perfect for a silent reading or thinking session in a room enclosed with books. There was especially fewer people now, since it was evening. Might as well head back. Wonder how that pumpkin is growing.
~
Word count: 1670
Total word count (General \ Pharmacist): 1670 x 1.1 = 1837
Notes: Celestial Arms Craft AP bonus
~
The library is a strange place, for it is one where many things occur, ranging from the clues to start a new questline, to information about certain mobs such as attack pattern, behaviour and habitat, to even more mundane things like the level of technology of Londinium. It was the last topic that the Swashbuckler just so happened to be delving into at this time, simply because he felt it interesting to compare this new world’s things to whatever little he knew of the old world. The Ripper Jack which usually followed him, a shady character at first glance, was away at the moment, busy attempting to grow itself a friend in the form of a pumpkin plant in a ceramic pot filled with soil discreetly taken from the Windsor Greatwood. Not that he felt that it was such a good idea though, considering the fact that he did not really see any pumpkins in the forest, nor many fruit-bearing plants. Well, whatever makes Skuggi happy, though this time will likely end in failure. It was not like it even had the Farmer subclass, if mobs could even have subclasses in the first place.
The topic he just so happened to be researching was economics. It was one of the topics he undertook while still in school, and was one of the topics which he felt was fairly applicable to his future life. That is, if he did not end up here. Still, it was worth comparing notes, if only to refresh his memory and perhaps shed some new light on how to best survive and thrive.
One of the major things he had noticed was due to the low level of technology, concepts such as globalization, which allowed for the increasing ease of movement of people, ideas, goods and services between economies, were completely absent from Londinium. Of course, whether or not the Adventurers will be able to recreate the means to cause the rise of globalization once more remains to be seen. Still, it would be good to review the topic of globalization, if only to pass the time since he would rather not go hunting and stuff. Why hunt when just thinking would net you experience points?
The theory of Comparative Advantage states that a country should specialize in producing a good that it has a lower opportunity cost in, and import the rest of the goods from other countries who specialize in them. To illustrate, a developing nation would be more likely to specialize in labor-intensive industries, while developed countries tend to lean to more value-added ones such as medicine and computer systems. Thus, globalization allows for a country to consume beyond their Production Possibility Curve, or PPC for short, as they can import goods and services from another country, which essentially means they consume beyond their means. Also, this causes a broadening of markets, as local shops and firms can now expand their operations overseas, allowing them to reap the benefits of economies of scale to reduce the marginal cost of production, which results in a lower final price of goods and services and reaching a wider consumer base in other countries, increasing export revenue for an economy.
The sudden competition between firms which have gone global also reaps benefits for the consumers as well. Increased competition between firms result in more innovations to increase the quality of the product, lower prices due to competition and investment in research and development to invent new products to stay ahead of competitors. This allows consumers to have a wider variety of goods at a cheaper price, increasing their material standard of living.
Yet as wonderful as the concept of globalization may seem, when someone wins, someone has to lose. In his world, countries were split between developed and developing, with the developed nations having strong economies, good infrastructure and a high standard of living and developing countries having poor infrastructure and a low standard of living as their technology has lagging behind those of the developed countries. Most developing countries were once colonies of the developed countries, so any money they made used to be sent back to their master, thus certain countries grew extremely rich and became the developed countries they are today. If memory serves him right, Australia should still have been paying the United Kingdom annually since the land belongs to the Queen, or something along those lines.
One of the issues caused by globalization comes from the movement of free labor. Skilled labor in the form of doctors and researchers often seek the highest pay, and as such developed nations bring these laborers over with an attractive salary and other benefits. As a result, the economies of these developed nations reap the benefits of an increased productive capacity, resulting in an increase in the aggregate supply, which is the total supply of all goods and services in the country, allowing economies to reap benefits on a macroeconomic level. On the other hand, it is not a picture of roses for the developing nations, as they struggle to keep their best brains from developed countries, leading to a brain drain as talents seeking better pay leave for the developed countries who offer much more than what their home nations ever could. Thus developed countries enjoy a qualitative and quantitative increase in labor at the expense of developing nations, allowing developed countries to strengthen their comparative advantages while the poorer nations still struggle to catch up to their wealthier counterparts and move up the value chain. Not only do the poor nations lose their talented workers, foreign direct investments may choose to relocate their investments, resulting in a fall in aggregate demand as it is comprised of C, I, G, and (X-M), thus when I falls, AD falls, leading to a multiple decrease in output, employment and national income through the multiplier effect. That is, if economic concepts could even be applied to this situation at all, considering monsters carry gold and all.
It should also be noted that one of the ways the poorer nations attract investment from wealthier countries is through lax environmental regulations, which lead to worsening environment damage as firms do nothing to curb their environment impact, leading to widespread deforestation and pollution in poor nations, reducing their non-material standard of living. It is a form of negative externality resulting from the overproduction of factories, resulting in welfare loss and hence, market failure as well.
Local firms in developing nations would also be threatened by the foreign brands rushing in to spread influence in a new market, leading to an increased dependence on exports and higher unemployment as jobs are ‘exported’ to other countries. Should they wish to delve into a new industry, developing nations would face tough competition from international brands, forcing them to either rely on them or pay heavy costs to start up and protect their fledgling industries.
That was not so say that globalization was completely not in favor of developing nations, however. Globalization allows for the flow of technology from developed to developing, allowing the poorer countries to skip years of research when investors bring in technology as they invest in the country and reap the some of the benefits of a developed country as labor is outsourced to cheaper alternatives in poorer nations, leading to rising unemployment for low skilled workers in developed nations. You could say it was a lot like the Adventurers bringing knowledge of a modern world to a relatively low-tech era like this one. Free movement of labor, while detrimental in the form of brain drain, also allows low-skilled workers from developing nations to migrate to developed nations to work, as these wealthy countries have need of low-skill workers who are willing to take a lower wage.
Also, the developing nation would experience increased trade as they gain access to other markets, allowing them to sell their products to the world at a more price competitive level as compared to developed countries, increasing their national income. However, it should be noted that some countries chose to practice protectionism and set tariffs, quotas and other measures in place in an attempt to reduce such benefits.
In the end, though, it was up to the government to intervene and maximize the benefits while minimizing the costs, as if left to the free market, their country may fall into a perpetual cycle of poverty. However, this would likely be dependent on the government’s ability to do so.
Well, that was a fairly lengthy thought process. He wondered if he was copying that all from a textbook of some kind. It was not like there was even a government here in Londinium, right?
He felt that Londinium was kind of a developing country, with no developed country to provide costs and benefits. Maybe it was something like how the colonial masters felt when they acquired colonies? Perhaps if he were to consider Adventurers as the 'developed country', bringing in new technology into a 'developing country', would this 'developing country' become a 'developed country' when compared to its neighbours after a year or so. It was an interesting prospect, for such a result would bring much stimulus to the Londinium economy as Lander merchants scramble for a piece of Adventurer technology. If one were to play his or her cards right, then it would be possible to become a weallthy Adventurer living in a mansion with a whole troupe of Lander servants to manage finance and such while the Adventurer does whatever he or she wants, be it adventuring, researching or just lazing about. Hopefully, he would be one. Stretching his arms, he looked out of the window to the quiet library out onto the streets of Londinium. This was a fairly quiet area, so there were few people walking around, perfect for a silent reading or thinking session in a room enclosed with books. There was especially fewer people now, since it was evening. Might as well head back. Wonder how that pumpkin is growing.
~
Word count: 1670
Total word count (General \ Pharmacist): 1670 x 1.1 = 1837
Notes: Celestial Arms Craft AP bonus
