Economy
This article describes how economy works in Librae in general, facilitating exchange of goods and services.
Fuel-based economy
The most basic commodity is Fuel. It is lightweight and universally usable. Thus, most prices are derived from it. However, it is still cheaper to exchange virtual units of fuel, thus EC, fuel-backed cryptocurrency is used. Currently, only Void Church issues EC, and it is considered trusted. In future, multiple currencies will likely be added, with various exchange rates, restrictions, and reliability.
Void Church operates branches in each empire capital, where it is obliged to exchange Fuel for EC 1:1, if Fuel is transported to their facility.
Agents
Certain organizations, for the purpose of trading algorithm, are considered a single agent, possessing goods and currency, and looking for a certain deal. An agent can represent a planet, a fleet, or a government. Agents communicate on exchanges, making their offers and finding a matching one.
Trading
The process of connecting agents together is handled by the trading algorithm, that determines which supply and demand are best for each other and matches them, agreeing on mutually beneficial price. The algorithm considers profitability of the deal, as well as personal moral bias of agents, fuel spent on shipment, and other requirements. The algorithm is further described in the main article. Each turn, the agents submit their offers and if matched they are fullfilled.
Transport is handled by Void Church, and is considered reliable. However, for example, dangerous routes cost more in form of insurance (Void Church is considered to replace lost goods from its own stocks). Governments can also make trading more difficult when crossing borders, either by tariffs, border inspections, or outright embargoes. Void Church officially obeys such restrictions, but some level of smuggling can always be expected to happen, if the price is right and security is loose enough.
Governments
Governments are their own agent, they have their stocks of goods and can participate in market. However, they also have subjects, which are supposed to pay taxes, based on income or other actions. Effectiveness of taxes' gathering depends on quality of local administration.
