The Local Currency - How many Martian Spanners does it cost?

srmeaney · 2005-05-26 02:16:01

Even though the Planetary mineral wealth will be used to pay off the Mars National Debt occrued as a consequence of colonization, The locals will still want something they can trade as a currency standard for that bottle of Vodka. Or do you think it will be a barter economy?

idiom · 2005-05-26 02:41:39

They will simply take a bunch of Euros with them. Nice stable currency the Euro.

clark · 2005-05-26 06:10:17

Where does one put their spare change in a space suit?

Cobra Commander · 2005-05-26 06:40:47

A digitally stored system of "credits", the units of which are valued based on a set index of tradeable commodities.

The base unit of currency would have its value determined by an average of the trade value of the commodities backing it. Say gold, oil, wheat, beef, steel for example. This way the currency is based on something real rather than the infaltion-prone fiat currency currently in widespread use and any fluctuation in one of the commodities is absorbed by the others. A stable, real currency.

And becasue it's digitally stored, no change to fumble around with.

Presumably you could also exchange it for its value in the indexed goods, were you so inclined.

Palomar · 2005-05-26 06:45:33

A digitally stored system of "credits", the units of which are valued based on a set index of tradeable commodities.
And becasue it's digitally stored, no change to fumble around with.

*Yeah. And is it likely in the first place that Mars inhabitants would bother minting coins? They might, but I'm thinking they'd have more important tasks/challenges to deal with. No trees on Mars (yet), paper scarce if nonexistant; no paper money.

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2005-05-26 06:54:44

The downside is that you could probably rob a bank with a PDA. ???

clark · 2005-05-26 06:58:08

Robbing banks on Mars? :laugh:

Palomar · 2005-05-26 07:10:25

*Nah, rescind comments. Been there/done that. (Socialist/barter).

--Cindy

clark · 2005-05-26 11:18:58

Maybe it will be like prison. They will use cigarette's as currency, and occasionaly barter for goods and services using the weaker males for exchange.

bdm · 2005-06-07 04:10:13

Is it likely in the first place that Mars inhabitants would bother minting coins? They might, but I'm thinking they'd have more important tasks/challenges to deal with. No trees on Mars (yet), paper scarce if nonexistant; no paper money.
--Cindy

Paper money is not made from tree fibre. I think it's made from cotton fibre instead. It's more durable.

Forget paper banknotes, it's old tech that is being phased out in many countries around the world. Polymer banknotes are now in circulation in many countries. To learn more, Google for "polymer banknotes".

What would a Martian currency be like? It will probably be a pure electronic currency. Such a currency will probably use low-value smartcards as the primary means of exchange. These smartcards would be used for day to day purchases like bread, protein rations, water and the like, and these can be recharged at the Martian equivalent of an ATM. For larger purchases, direct transfers between bank accounts would be employed.

srmeaney · 2005-06-08 04:03:55

OK...Todays tradable commodity is water. How long will it be worth it's weight in food?

reddragon · 2005-06-09 15:26:47

They will simply take a bunch of Euros with them. Nice stable currency the Euro.

I don't remember seeing Mars on the map of Europe. You think the EU will let them in anyway?

I like the idea of money being all dealt with electronically, but it's too open to theft. We already have a lot of problems with credit cards. In an electronic system, if someone steals a few special numbers of yours they can spend your money. If we each carry around a little thing with some sort of electronic memory keeping track of our money, then if someone steals it they have stolen everything you have. It's like carrying your life savings around in your wallet. Also electronic memory can be tampered with.

The base unit of currency would have its value determined by an average of the trade value of the commodities backing it. Say gold, oil, wheat, beef, steel for example. This way the currency is based on something real rather than the infaltion-prone fiat currency currently in widespread use and any fluctuation in one of the commodities is absorbed by the others. A stable, real currency.

Having money backed by something real is good, but the money can still change in value as the market changes. If a big part of your currency is based on wheat, for example, and an overproduction of wheat causes prices to fall one year, your money falls in value too. You do, however, avoid a lot ot the inflation that we have so much of today.

PurduesUSAFguy · 2005-06-09 18:17:03

I think that buy the time Mars has a significant enough population to justify a curency independent from the USD either automated manufactories or nanotechnology will have advanced to the point that the material cost of most things will be basically deflated. Due to this the cost of any item will be based around A.) the intelectual property cost and B.) the time it takes in local manufactories or nano-fabs. As such I think an proper unit of curency for Mars might be the nanofab second/minute/hour.

srmeaney · 2005-06-10 04:03:33

I think that buy the time Mars has a significant enough population to justify a curency independent from the USD either automated manufactories or nanotechnology will have advanced to the point that the material cost of most things will be basically deflated. Due to this the cost of any item will be based around A.) the intelectual property cost and B.) the time it takes in local manufactories or nano-fabs. As such I think an proper unit of curency for Mars might be the nanofab second/minute/hour.

Now your'e just talking crazy talk. The Earth Currency Standard wont be the American Dollar. It will be the Martian Spanner.

Ode to the Martian Spanner

Oh say can you sing of a red spanner with rings, and of a fine Martian tool box that saved the Day?

In that rocket red glare of Mars rarified air, we watched as our shares in Boeing went ping!

For when the Earth Economy failed, The Mars Economy prevailed, and grew and took wing.

As proud Colonists of Mars we held our Martian spanners high reaching to the sky, upward, outward, and beyond.

Grypd · 2005-06-10 04:19:12

In the future we certainly will still have hard currency but for the most part people wont use it. Electronic banking is the way it will have to go and certainly there will be fraud. But ask yourselves how much does electronic fraud cost compare to people just stealing money. You have to have a bit of brains to steal from a computer and that is getting harder and harder each year.

Identity fraud is a problem but one of our own making as we believe ID cards with personal Bio data and fingerprints on them are an invasion into privacy. But if we want to get rid of ID theft and from that the majority of computer fraud that is what we will have to do.

I dont know what the currency will be based on certainly economic effectiveness and apparent stability of the currency is a very stupid way to do it. But going back to a gold standard does not make a lot of sense either. It really comes down to what a man should be paid per hour for doing one hours physical labour and its relationship with labour that is Mental rather than physical.

Trebuchet · 2005-06-10 14:59:10

You know, encrypted electronic money with a sort of public-private key system would work well. Your public key decrypts your public key and vice versa.

So, someone walks into a store on Mars, and has their electronic wallet dangling from their keychain... or maybe it's a small wireless RFID type implant in the skin (kinda hard to steal such 'bionic money'... or forget your wallet), or just a credit card type thing, or perhaps any of the above would work. You encode the transaction with your private key and the store's public key; the shop owner decrypts it and finishes the transaction by unlocking with the store's private key and your public key. Very safe, very hard to mess with.

And that 'commodity basket' idea is not a new one, Cobra, it's been kicked around for a long time. I happen to agree with it. The Mars 'basket' would probably have some nonstandard stuff like 'the current cost of sending one pound of stuff from earth' as part of its basket, however.

srmeaney · 2005-06-10 21:50:01

And that 'commodity basket' idea is not a new one, Cobra, it's been kicked around for a long time. I happen to agree with it. The Mars 'basket' would probably have some nonstandard stuff like 'the current cost of sending one pound of stuff from earth' as part of its basket, however.

Doubtful, The Mars Gov will want to retain control of the contract to ship goods. If you dont fill the contract, you company will be seized for fraud.

Remember kids, when building paradise, keep a sword by the gate.

Mundaka · 2005-08-10 14:01:47

Trebuchet · 2005-08-11 19:50:18

Hmmm . . . well, assuming the cost of space transport will drop over time, does this system not have inflation built into it?

This would be a bug, not a feature. A Marvin that depreciates in lockstep with the cost of space travel means that investment in Mars gets more attractive as the cost of travel to Mars decreases; it also boosts the export power of Mars. In other words, it's a good financial strategy to pursue in the early stages of the colony.

John Creighton · 2005-08-11 23:29:36

Radical idea time. Base the currency on the living cost and not on the price of a commodity. That is it is an IOU from the banks for an available quantity of goods that the bank has in stock. Thus you could exchange it for gold, water, air even property the back seized from a bankruptcy. The bank will give you a list of goods you can chose to exchange the money for, it may very some branch to branch based on availability and what they can practically store.

The plus side of this is that it would eliminate inflation. The down side is if there was enough scarcity the back may not be able to obtain the necessary goods to exchange for the money and the system would collapse. Another problem is living costs are subjective because prices very on items such as cloths and food and it may not be clear what is necessary but perhaps some standards could be set. For instance the price of canned beans or basic jeans should not very much brand to branch. Property could be an issue if there was a housing shortage but perhaps if the back stockpiled some construction supplies it would be able to promise the commodity in the future and help find temporary accommodations if necessary. The problem with this is the distinction between bank and store begin to blur.

Stormrage · 2005-08-12 04:10:22

I think it's safer to have a cashless society. If someone steals paper banknotes it's gone. If someone steals electronic money it leaves a trail from where the money was in to where it got sent.

clark · 2005-08-12 20:45:05

give me your back account information and lets see what happens...

Rakial · 2005-08-16 10:51:27

At first I think this how it's going to be. One day of work is going to be equal to one shower, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Don't eat breakfast and you can take a second shower or don't take shower :shock: and you can have branch.
Like it was in Russia at the late 1980s one cupon could be exchanged for a bar of soap or one pound of sugar. So at home you had choice if you wash your hands then coffee with no sugar.

Stormrage · 2005-08-18 14:22:34

give me your back account information and lets see what happens...

Do people have accounts for their back? Man i have to get one. My back problem is killing me better to rip off the insurance companies now.

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