Terrence Fugate wrote:

>  That'd work for one or two leaders with gangs but it is clear farming
> is contracting, exports of brandy are declining.
>  Could the government pay all the out of work farmers?
>  It is stated the government has already started printing money that
> is worthless.
>  Look up Weimar Republic for what happens with uncontrolled
> printing....
>
>  If'n I were in charge, I'd consider a massive public works program
> focused on rebuilding the infrastructure, maybe not much money but
> insure everyone is fed, try to educate those who can be educated and
> try to start a semi self-sufficient economy. Nothing interstellar to
> avoid bringing the federation down like a ton of bricks.

Two enforcement gangs, as written about in Ministry of Disturbance. The
historical precedent is the Blues and Greens of Constantinople.

Poictesme scrip is an indicator of a shortage of Federation currency.
How much of the available Federation currency was being confiscated to
pay for a fraction of the necessary equipment replacement, as well as
copies of Surf Nazis Must Die for Lichfield councilmen?

Going a bit afield, the Japanese city of Hokota resembles Poictesme.
Heavily reliant on agriculture. Melons are a major cash crop. Melon ice
cream. Melon candy. Melon-chocolate bread. The city still has some urban
blight. Shuttered stores. Decrepit houses.

Melon brandy exports had the same problem as the wax trade in Four Day
Planet. High prices on Terra, buyer's cartel at the source of
production.

It seems fairly safe to infer that Poictesme had very little industrial
base. The sheer amount of discarded equipment undercuts profitability of
local manufacturing. A shrinking agricultural industry guts the working
class with a consequent decline in overall prosperity. Citing the mall
as evidence.

Once imported equipment goes down, it stays down. Power reactors stop
operating. Escalators cease working. Air cars no longer get off the
ground. Mechanized farm equipment--tractors, combine harvesters--turns
into garden ornaments. Who has the technical competence to attempt
repairs?

Yet, there is one bright spot. Metal smiths in Afghanistan can turn out
serviceable copies of AK-47s and M-16s. Metal smiths on Poictesme might
become the gentry class for their capability to produce an essential
good.