[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by robj3

Hello all.

I wrote the Economics chapter but didn't have a chance to edit it for clarity.
I agree that the final text is far from clear.

First let me say, thank you very much for taking your time to explain this here. Have you written a flow chart, or any step by step tutorials, for this economics section? I think it is one of the more important tools in the new edition.

Originally Posted by robj3

In overview:
Start with the settlement's Tech Level and population.

Is this something the PD determines on his / her own? I did not see a min/max for this, or does the economics at the end determine if the population can support itself?

Originally Posted by robj3

Calculate the size of the labor pool.
Distribute workers into agriculture, mining/mfg/construction, distribution, services.

This is based on the percentages on page 237, correct? Everything is lumped under farmers but, raising livestock is a complete other vocation.
I realize that farmers often have livestock in addition to their crops, this is however more like a side job or alternate revenue. For a rancher or dairy operator the livestock is all the work, making for long days on its own….. I milked cows one summer. Seven days a week, twice a day, no days off. Not my fondest memory but, the pay was sweet for a young man.

Originally Posted by robj3

Work through each sector.
- how do I feed the population with the farmers available?
- how do I produce the raw materials the community needs?
- how is agricultural and factory product distributed?
- how are service workers distributed?
- how much energy is required to run everything?
- where does everyone live?

I understood these were all modifiers….. So it begins with the total yearly hours for all farmers combined, as a base 2000 hours per farmer, without community traits.
One farmer = 2000, Ten farmers = 20,000

Can you explain how to determine the base value for inputs?

The necessities for pesticide, fuel, feed, material, etc; I understood what this was for but, not how to determine the base cost of inputs.
Pesticide and fuel would come from petrochemicals, while feed for livestock is diverted from feed (cereals) for humans. Then the other stuff; is input something that must be deducted from the village output? So that there is enough to maintain, or expand the following year?
The inputs have to be significantly different by tech level, yes?

Originally Posted by robj3

RandyT0001 wrote:
It is the same as that used for other forms of crops. If wheat is 1, milk is 1/12.

Example:
At tech level E, each hectare allocated to wheat will produce 1,300kg per year.
If I run dairy cattle, that hectare will produce 1300/12 ~ 108kg of milk per year. But I'm going to need more area than that to run a cow.

Should the PD determine the food requirements for the village, and all the village livestock, then determine what the farmers are producing? That is how I would go about it. After everyone is fed, then I can determine who is growing a surplus for trade, or luxury items like tobacco.

The other thing is the time to yield……… I fully understand that a Tech A or B farmer on a tractor is going to out produce the lower tech levels. What effect does this have on village creation? Less farmers dedicated to feeding the population / livestock, and more producing surpluses for trade? Is this meant as a way to divert excess farmers back over to other trades? The base number of hours per year / hours per hectare yield simply means more hectares can be worked by one farmer? Am I reading to much into this?

Originally Posted by robj3

ArmySGT wrote:
For the 100 person village, you need to produce 5,000kg of meat or 15,000L of milk per year.

15,000L milk at Tech Levels A-C:
~83 hectares of pasture, requiring 15,000kg of corn equivalent feed.

5,000kg meat at Tech Levels A-C:
eggs - ~33 hectares for egg-laying chickens which need 15,000kg of feed
*poultry - ~43.5 hectares for broilers which need 12,500kg of feed
*pork/mutton - 100 hectares for pigs/sheep which need 30,000kg of feed
*beef - 200 hectares for cattle which need 65,000kg feed
*lamb - ~278 hectares for lambs which need 85,000kg feed
*shellfish - ~2.3 hectares which need 15,000kg of feed
*fish - 23 hectares which need 15,000kg feed

15,000 kg of corn divided by the modifier for the corn yield at that tech level? This determines how many farmers are diverted to cattle feed?

Does this come from the base cost + inputs? Is this what has to be at a minimum, or a minimum plus seed for the next year? Wheat and Milk are the base of the food chain for people, and corn is the base for livestock? Should the PD be trying to vary the meat types? Wouldn’t rabbit, turkeys, and goats make more sense at lower tech levels without refrigeration and means to process a large carcass? Salt….. Animals need it, people need it, picking, smoking, and drying foods for preservation of meats need it. How would this factor into base cost and inputs? Salt may be easy for a village by the sea or in Utah, someplace is can be mined, others salt may be very precious indeed.

Originally Posted by robj3

* This is for what is going to be eaten that year. Typically, 1/10 of a herd/flock is eaten each year.

Raising livestock needs a lot of land and food at any tech level.
Labor requirement falls away quickly with higher tech levels.
See the 'Tech Level Multiplier' table on p.236 (if my proof copy is the same as the final print).

Is the other 9/10ths part of the input or over and above the input for the succeeding year?

Originally Posted by robj3

Each worker has a base and input cost "expressed in labor years per worker at that tech level" (p.237).

The base and input cost varies with industrial sector - it is meant to represent the resources required to maintain productivity at that tech level.
Base is initial capital cost, inputs are annual maintenance, fuel etc. cost.

So a single Tech A farmer can manage 143 hectares of wheat in a 2,000 hour labor year, producing 314,600kg of wheat. This farmer needs 40 Tech A-years worth of equipment with annual costs of 3 Tech A-years worth of fuel, parts, pesticide, etc.

I think how to determine the inputs went over my head. Are inputs equal to and in addition to labor years?