Artistic License Economics/Quotes

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Rudyard KiplingThe Gods of the Copybook Headings

Susan: Look... how would you make sure everyone in the world was well fed?
Bilious: Me? Oh, well, I... I suppose you'd have to think about the prevalent political systems, and the proper cultivation of arable land, and --
Susan: Yes, yes. But he'd just give everyone a good meal.

Human Trader: So the state dictates all careers, sets all production, and seizes all goods.
Dwarf: Yep.
Human: Then the goods go to privately owned shops, free of charge, but the aristocracy sets all the prices.
Dwarf: Right.
Human: How do you live with a system like that?
Dwarf: I made a really snazzy leather earring a few years ago, so I'm exempt from it all.

Three Panel Soul "On Mixed Economies" (in Dwarf Fortress - disabled completely in later versions)