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SW Economy and worker's salaries
Posted: 2004-11-09 08:13pm
by Wong Fei Hong
Yet another question that helps develop plot in the aforementioned SD.
How much money is reasonable for a person who must raise an upper middle class family of four in the Star Wars galaxy?
And is 10,000 credits a very significant sum in the SW galaxy? I know the quote from ANH, but compare it with today's world, ships are like expensive cars, and anything really less than $100,000 in today's society isn't really considered upper middle class.
Posted: 2004-11-09 08:26pm
by Spice Runner
In ANH Luke sold of the land speeder for around 19,000 credits I think. It seems to be a bit cheaper than cars in our society. But then technology comes into play. With such an advanced technological state, things would not be expensive because they are new or advanced like they are in our society.
Posted: 2004-11-09 08:32pm
by Alex Moon
Impossible to know. Upper middle class is a very loose definition, and even in a single country the amount of money needed to live comfortably varies from place to place.
Posted: 2004-11-09 08:34pm
by Alex Moon
Spice Runner wrote:In ANH Luke sold of the land speeder for around 19,000 credits I think. It seems to be a bit cheaper than cars in our society. But then technology comes into play. With such an advanced technological state, things would not be expensive because they are new or advanced like they are in our society.
We have no idea what the value of a credit is. Furthermore, even if it was roughly equal to a dollar, then it make Luke's landspeeder quite expensive. However, from the movies Luke indicates that he did not recieve a significant sum for his vehicle.
Posted: 2004-11-09 08:37pm
by Master of Ossus
Spice Runner wrote:In ANH Luke sold of the land speeder for around 19,000 credits I think.
That seems hard to believe, since Luke felt that low-end spaceships would sell for not much more than 10,000, and he complained about the low price.
Posted: 2004-11-09 08:39pm
by The Original Nex
Spice Runner wrote:In ANH Luke sold of the land speeder for around 19,000 credits I think. It seems to be a bit cheaper than cars in our society. But then technology comes into play. With such an advanced technological state, things would not be expensive because they are new or advanced like they are in our society.
I was sure it sold for less than 2,000.....
Posted: 2004-11-09 08:55pm
by Wong Fei Hong
I guess the standards of living in America then. In an affluential community.
Now take that to the SW universe, same standard of living, and there's the question:
How much does a person need to be paid to afford that standard?
10,000? 20,000? 50,000?
Posted: 2004-11-09 09:07pm
by Raptor 597
The Original Nex wrote:Spice Runner wrote:In ANH Luke sold of the land speeder for around 19,000 credits I think. It seems to be a bit cheaper than cars in our society. But then technology comes into play. With such an advanced technological state, things would not be expensive because they are new or advanced like they are in our society.
I was sure it sold for less than 2,000.....
Yes, it was. I think he's adding the speeder cost that was paid to Han (2000), the 15000 from Alderaan and the 2000 again, otherwise he's just making up numbers.
Posted: 2004-11-09 09:54pm
by Spice Runner
Yeah thats probably it, I was thinking of the amount Han mentioned.
Posted: 2004-11-10 01:47am
by vakundok
Luke sold his speeder (used and not the most current type) and it was not enough for the 2,000, he needed Kenobi's money too ...
The WEG sourcebook gives hints:
Landspeeder new: 10,000, used: 2,000 relate it as a standard car.
Communicator (civil): 25 relate it as a normal mobile phone
Communicator (military): 100 relate it as a near top of the line mobile phone
Small freighter new: ~100,000, used: ~24,000 relate it as a small yacht or a small Cessna
Fifth class (hand working) droid: 1,000 relate it as an expensive kitchen automat (turmix+microwave owen+) or something ...
My personal estimate (without backup) is around 40,000 credits/family/year (after taxation) at a medium place, around 25,000 at a low end place and nearly 100,000 at a frequent one ...
Posted: 2004-11-10 12:58pm
by phongn
Unfortunately we have no broad measurement to compare with (like our Consumer Price Index), nor the strength of the credit. There are other factors like the supply/demand curve as well.
If the SW Credit (SWC) is worth, say, $100 US Dollars (USD), then a communicator would have an MSRP of around 2500 SWC. But what if you, say, introduced only one hundred onto Earth? Their value would be proportionally far higher due to scarcity.
Posted: 2004-11-10 01:11pm
by Master of Ossus
Calculating any of these things is an incredibly difficult process--so much so that I would say no comparison is possible. The Bureau of Labor Statistics employs hundreds of people full time just to keep track of inflation in the United States. How are some hobbyists supposed to keep track of things like that in the Star Wars universe, where direct comparisons are impossible?