SW Economy and worker's salaries

Wong Fei Hong · Post by **Wong Fei Hong** » 2004-11-09 08:13pm

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.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2004-11-09 08:26pm

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.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2004-11-09 08:32pm

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.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2004-11-09 08:34pm

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.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-11-09 08:37pm

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.

The Original Nex · Post by **The Original Nex** » 2004-11-09 08:39pm

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.....

Wong Fei Hong · Post by **Wong Fei Hong** » 2004-11-09 08:55pm

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?

Raptor 597 · Post by **Raptor 597** » 2004-11-09 09:07pm

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.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2004-11-09 09:54pm

Yeah thats probably it, I was thinking of the amount Han mentioned.

vakundok · Post by **vakundok** » 2004-11-10 01:47am

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 ...

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-11-10 12:58pm

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.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-11-10 01:11pm

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?