2300AD Changes (2): Trade and Starship Ownership

Introduction

I previously discussed the changes in tantalum availability and the effect, or rather lack of effect, that changing this aspect of the timeline had on the background. To follow this up, herein I shall examine the mathematics of cargo trade, the changes in the nature of starship ownership between the GDW and post-GDW universes, and the "Libertines."

I struggle below, because Libertines are so out of whack with the universe that they make zero sense. It may get rambly.

 

Part 1: The Mechanics of Starships

Cost of Cargo etc.

The cost of cargo transport in MgT 2k3 (4th ed) is much higher than GDW 2k3, Whereas it averaged Lv5 per m3/ton per light-year in GDW (2nd ed, pg 21, which is already lot), in the Mongoose universe it is Lv750 per dTon per light year (4th ed pg 267). Since a dTon is 14 m3, thus equates to Lv53.6 per m3 per ly. Cargo transport in MgT 2k3 is an order of magnitude more expensive than in GDW.

Now, a MgT livre is not a GDW livre. A MgT Anjou is MLv115.75 to construct, whereas a GDW Anjou was MLv6.36 - the MgT vessel is 18.2 times the price of the GDW one. The ships have different backstories too. The major reason why the former is more expensive is the hull. For some reason, a basic 2,000 dTon hull is MLv100 (i.e. 5% of the dTonnage of the ship), whereas the hull of the GDW Anjou is about MLv0.6, because it's the actual amount of material (76 m3) in the hull multiplied by cost of the material.

With the GDW Anjou, the percentage of the ships cost that is the stutterwarp is (4.5/6.36 =) 71%, whereas with the MgT Anjou it is (1.5/115.75 =) 1%. Hence, there is a completely different relationship between the cost of the stutterwarp drive and the overall cost of the ship.

The MgT Anjou charges a little over 10 times the GDW vessel to haul freight (MLv1.284 per ly vs MLv0.125 per ly), which is within the same order of magnitude as the increased ship construction cost. In MgT, interface transport is a bit less expensive. The effect is to completely up-end the relationship of interface costs and interstellar costs; whereas in GDW it was expensive to get to orbit but relatively cheap to transport goods on starships, in MgT it is much more expensive to haul goods long distances.

Economics of Starships and Why Tantalum Matters

The cost of running an MgT Anjou, assuming she's underway for 300 days per year (1,512 dTons fuel consumed) is MLv4.57 excluding incidentals like berthing costs etc. Say a round MLv5 to cover them. With a loaded warp eff. of 0.85, and assuming a third of the warping time is insystem, with full loads the Anjou would have an income of MLv218.28, or say an annual profit of ca. MLv213, or an annual return on investment of 184%. Building and crewing the ship breaks even at around 7 months.

To be clear, in GDW 2k3 there was similar maths, although we didn't know all the costs. We had an explanation though - the scarcity of tantalum. The cost of transporting items was driven up by the lack of availability of starships to transport goods, i.e. there was a high demand but low supply. This low supply was caused by the lack of materials (i.e. tantalum) to build starships. The book costs were essentially the manufacturing costs, if you had the materials available.

In both MgT and GDW this means that if you were selling a starship, treating it as a financial asset would mean the value was around 10x the annual profit. The sale value of that MgT Anjou is ca. MLv2,130, with the shipyard netting a ca. 2 billion livre profit on the sale. Manufacturing Anjous would have an annual 1,840% ROI.

The economics here are resembling a monopoly. Something is causing this monopoly-like economics, and in GDW tantalum scarcity explains everything. It MgT 2k3, since tantalum has been declared to not be an issue, it cannot explain matters; there must be a different restriction in play.

Low-cost Airlines in Space?

Before moving on, we should consider what starship travel would look like if modern low-cost economics were applied. It should be noted that modern low-cost airlines actually lose money when transporting people. The actual travel is a lost-leader to bring people into their financial products. Hence the ROI could actually be negative. The following uses an MgT Anjou.

At a 5% ROI (i.e. what was considered good on the market before 2008) that cost should be Lv35 per dTon-ly. Low cost carriers would drive this down even further. At a ca. 1% ROI that Anjou would be charging Lv20 per dTon-ly, and breakeven would be Lv14.6 per dTon-ly.

I think I could easily design ships pushing this number down below Lv10 per dTon-ly.

However, since prices are known, this didn't happen. The ships in both universes are resource limited, with it being the availability of tantalum in the GDW universe, and something unspecified in the MgT universe since tantalum has been declared to not be an issue in that universe.

 

Part 2: Starship Ownership and the The Mechanics of Trade

GDW Independent Traders

In GDW 2k3, "independent traders" certainly did exist; they were a career path. However, not all had access to their own ship, and many simply rented space on commercial ships. (2nd ed. AG pg 17) Having access to ones own ship does not necessarily mean ownership; the independent trader can be crew on a merchant, and use the discounted shipping. The general situation regarding ships is explained on page 61 of the AG:

 

This states outright that it is very unlikely the players own a starship, and that ownership of them is reserved to the wealthier nations and corporations. The four categories include merchants (some of whose crew may be independent traders) and pirates. Pirates basically faded into the background, and were hardly mentioned in 2k3, and were not a major feature. Pirates can perhaps be taken as a catchall term for illegal activity in general, since pg 17 conflates the careers as smuggler/pirate. There are no rules for purchasing starships, since it was assumed the players would not own a starship.

Contrariwise, if you track the nature of starship manufacture and sales (appendix 1), you can see that until ca. 2250, all starships were owned by the major governments and their agencies. Around 2250 starships start to appear for sale, although only to middle ranked governments (like Canada) and large corporations. Writeups suggest that in the decade or two before 2300, smaller shipping companies, including single ship ones, started to appear. Thus any "free trader" starships would appear to be a recent, and minor, phenomenon.

Typically, independent traders as crew will use the "in lieu of pay" rules (2nd ed. DG, pg 65) to rent space in the hold at a rate of Lv500 per m3/metric ton per year (by inspection*). The ship itself likely is on a scheduled route between Earth and one of the colonies, stopping to refuel frequently. You buy in the colonies, sell to Earth, buy other things and sell to the colonies.

Such a trader is unlikely to be a "tramp."

* Taking an Anjou, incoming by renting out the cargo bay for normal cargo is on the order of MLv25 per year, but no guarantees it will be full. Leasing the cargo bay "in lieu of pay" would bring in MLv12.5 assuming that the cost listed was annual. 

Liners vs Tramps

Merchant ships are divided into two major types of service - liners and tramps.

Liners are scheduled vessels that typically run back and forward between two points, making scheduled stops. If you want to move something on them then you draw up a contract and pay the fee. The liner runs according to their schedule and delivers at the agreed point along their route.

Tramps are vessels that don't follow a schedule. They are not, however, Travellereque free traders wandering between star systems looking for things to buy and sell. They work to contracts or charters. There are three general sorts of charter in the modern tramp trade:

1. Voyage charter (by far the most common)- the charterer pays for the ship to make a voyage to somewhere (and back) carrying a load of cargo. This is typically charged as if the hold were full for the whole journey.
2. Time charter (quite rare) - the charterer literally rents the ship with crew. It is agreed that for a certain period of time the ship will do as the charterer wants, within reason.
3. Demise charter (very rare) - the charterer is provided a completely empty and uncrewed ship, and charged to use it. Large insurance or collateral will be needed. The cost of a demise is usually enormous.

The cost of a charter is going to be on the order of filling the whole ships hold for a voyage, and more. The ship is foregoing a normal run from Earth to BCV-4 (or whatever) for the charter. The charter must be more than the lost opportunity cost, or it makes no economic sense.

What doesn't exist in the real world is speculative trade, i.e. a Travelleresque moving around without contract just "wheeling and dealing" between different worlds. That's because it makes no real sense.

Customs Inspection and Interception

As anyone who's watch shows such as "Border Security" or even simply traveled internationally, knows that when you enter a new jurisdiction, that jurisdiction has the right to examine your vehicle, your property and you. The national authority has absolute authority over whether or not to grant access of a ship to a port. Currently, there are a great many multi-lateral agreements that allow relatively frictionless access to ports, but this has not always been so, and has been trending back towards a less open stance since the late 1970's.

Currently, when a (wet) ship enters a port it must present a series of certificates including ones related to the drive system, certificates related to the cargo and certificates related to the crew. Ship crews on modern vessels are themselves holders of licenses, or en route to such, and they have to be able to demonstrate that they are qualified to operate a ship. This is the equivalent of being a Commissioned Officer in the military. On a modern cargo ship (with a crew of ca. 25), typically around half the crew are licensed, with the remainder being cadets (i.e. trainees), cooks, cleaners and generally dogsbody seamen. The pay scales for starship crews show that they are all in the "Commissioned officer" range. Unlicensed crewmen (i.e. enlisted men) would seem to be aberrations. 

The authorities at the port must verify the certificates, and this often means an inspection. Sometimes this is cursory, but in the case of a suspected illegal ship (or greylisted flagged vessel) it is likely not to be. This means that any Libertine is going to be asked where the documentation is related to, for example, the stutterwarp drive. If the Libertine can't prove legal possession, then the ship and the crew will be arrested.

Further. inspections may be able to take place even if you don't dock. On Earth, territorial waters were defined by coming into weapons range of the coast, but nations have the right of inspection anywhere in their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). They have the right to intercept vessels in international waters with any of: the permission of the flag state, if the vessel is unregistered to a state (which would include a suspicion of the vessel being stolen), or if there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity such as piracy or slave-trading.

In space, any ship in the system is a potential threat. Consider what would happen if a ship in system pushed a rock to collide with a colony world. It is likely that any nation with a colony in a system has the right to stop and search any ship in that system, because said vessel is a potential threat. Even if there's no colony or outpost, a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity would be sufficient to authorise an interception and search.

The penalties for attempting to circumvent inspection, for example by landing on a planet, can be severe. At Earth, 18 warships orbit the planet just outside the dead zone with orders to destroy any vessel violating the blockade. To date, no vessel has survived running the OQC blockade. Remember, any vessel entering the dead zone becomes effectively stationary to starship weapons fire, and even a small warship can rapidly destroy any craft. In deep space the interceptor may open fire on the intercepted, and keep shooting until the drive is out. 

As an note, the nature of OQC is different in MgT, it being a separate agency with it's own ships, marines etc., whereas in GDW 2k3 it was staffed by the national militaries with ships etc. seconded to OQC command in the way current national NATO navies send ships to STANAVFORLANT and other commitments. 

Flags of Convenience

Without going in depth into it, flags of convenience only really exist because of a corporate lobby in the United States trying to avoid the strong unionisation of American seamen, and as a mechanism of expropriating wealth from informal colonies like Panama and Liberia (i.e. a a mechanism for the US to seize control of those nations' trade). It really took off during WW2, when the US maintained "neutrality" by registering merchants trading with the allies in the economic dependencies. Many newly independent islands opened open registries in the 1960's-70's, but European nations responded by opening their own open registries.

It should not be taken for granted that this very specific series of events would occur in a French dominated universe. Simply, without the global superpower (USA) enforcing the flag of convenience system, it would not exist.

Remembering that nations have complete control of their ports, they can simply deny access to any vessel. This is currently done, and many FoC's are on the "black list" for poor standards - they may not enter Paris MOU ports. Access to Earth, especially, is tightly controlled through OQC.

In MgT 2k3, FoC's exist, as a method to subvert the established colonial powers. Of course, this is the opposite of the real world - FoC's work for the powerful to oppress the weak and poor. If it was other way round, it would be banned. This means the established colonial powers won't recognise them. The flags used are Freihaven (which is, of course, under French influence), Indonesia (that violent basketcase that regularly invades their neighbours) and Vanuatu(?) Indeed, in the discussions it's stated that pirate ships flag as Indonesia, and this somehow shields them. Of course, the opposite is true; if Indonesia allows pirates to flag to them, all Indonesian ships will be attacked and seized on sight. Nations are responsible for the activities of ships flying under their FoC, and an Indonesian flagged pirate would be committing acts-of-war in the name of Indonesia.

If FoC's existed in 2k3, then they would be to colonies, as most real world FoC's are (largely to informal US colonies). For example, American shipping companies would want to get their ships registered to a French (colonial) registry to give them access to carrying trade from those colonies. Rather than a way of subverting France and the major powers, it works for the major colonial powers by pulling foreign shipping into those registries.

 

Part 3: Libertine Traders

Libertine traders were an addition in the 3rd edition, which survived into the 4th edition unchanged, but were heavily revised in the 5th edition. They are an intrepid merchant trope. They are (or were?) based on the merchanters of CJ Cherryh's books, but the historical events that created them are not present in the 2k3 universe. In the Merchanter universe, the merchanters began as Earth Company STL transports that spent decades traveling to the stations and back. By the time period of the novels, three centuries have passed in which the oldest of these ships had had generations be born, crew the ship and die on it, with basically no contact with the outside world for decades (until jump is invented). This did not happen in 2k3.

In the 3rd and 4th editions, Libertines were explicitly gypsies, with Romany laws (with Romany gypsies and Irish Traveller gypsies conflated). They somehow own and operate starships, with said starships basically replacing gypsy wagons. We don't know how they got starships, how they maintain them, or how they operate, but by the encounter charts they make up 1/5th of the merchants on the French Arm and an incredible 1/3rd of the merchants on the Chinese Arm (4th edition encounter tables). Page 99 of 4th edition is clear there are hundreds of Libertine starships, and they actually carry the lions share of intercolonial trade.

In the 5th edition, they've been fleshed out. Libertines have been around since the 2180's, apparently. Of course, in the 2180's there is no American or Chinese Arm (the first colonies are founded there in the 2190's), and explorers are just reaching BCV and Henry's Star. The only offworld colonies (aside from research and resupply outposts) are the ESA, Argentinean-Mexican and Japanese colonies on Tirane, the German colony on Nibelungen and the British colony on Beowulf. That is it. The French haven't settled a colony outside of ESA yet. Despite all this, at a time where America hasn't even planted a colony, and all traffic is probably still government, we have the Libertines.

However, on the very next page we are introduced to the first Libertine ship, which became such in 2210, so Libertines weren't around in the 2180's. That ship was the ESAS Vancouver (the ship which pioneered the Queen Alice's Star system), which I think has in part been confused with Ramage's ESAS Pathfinder (see Nyotekundu SB). MgT has the fate of the Vancouver be that the empty hulk (lacking drives, reactors etc.) was stolen, sorry, "liberated" from Earth orbit, and flown around. Where the drives, reactors etc. came from is undisclosed. However, that makes it a blatantly stolen ship. This should mean nasty Mr. RSN cruiser and their Marine detachment should pay them a visit, shoot a lot of the thieves in the head if they resist, and take possession of His Majesty's stolen property.

Thus it is clarified, "Libertines" are actually pirates who steal ships, despite the author's statement that not a single Libertine starship is stolen. It is a semantic matter, the Libertines have stolen the ships, but they don't consider them stolen. Not recognising the crime one has committed is no defence.

As later explained by the author, they're actually secretly anti-capitalist traders, who are working to bring down the colonial system. They have stolen ships, and Indonesia and the Life Foundation (see appendix 2) provide drives etc. This is a major change for the Life Foundation, and for Indonesia (who fought a war to obtain a small supply of tantalum). Oh, and in 4th edition, Iran is also complicit in this somehow.

Numbers of Ships in MgT 2k3

In contrast with the original 1st and 2nd edition, in 4th edition the Anjou is, rather than an old design which is no longer produced and outclassed by modern transports, is a modern (post-2291) design and instead of 600, only 78 exist, and more than half the Libertines' fleet are Anjous. Hence the Libertines are buying modern vessels. Bearing in mind the MgT price of MLv116, to buy 78 (which maximises ship numbers) means that the Libertines and their backers are spending a billion livres a year on Anjous alone.

Using the 4th edition encounter tables, and only counting colonies (and ignoring naval bases except in the core, because they're not listed), 14% of ships are in the core, 46% on the French Arm, 30% on the Chinese Arm and 11% on the American Arm.  Given the probability of the encounter being a Libertine, we can determine that, overall, Libertines are 20% of all cargo/ merchant ships.

Given that the maximum number of Libertines, from the Anjou writeup, is 156, then it follows that there are less the 790 cargo vessels in total, and this assumes every single Anjou belongs to the Libertines.

The French government merchant fleet is only 6% of the entire Human merchant fleet by the encounter table probabilities, placing a maximum of 47 merchant ships flying the French flag. German merchants far outnumber French merchants on the French Arm, and have the largest merchant fleet of any nation, with 50 ships. The British (inc. Wellon) also outnumber the French on the French Arm, and overall with 49 ships. France, Germany and Britain together have fewer merchants than the Libertines.

The American merchant fleet is 19 ships (2%) or  23 ships if Trilon's 4 cargo ships are added. Manchuria has 43 cargo ships. Japan has 6 cargo ships (<1%).

Corporations aside from Trilon have 73 cargo ships (9%), and non-Libertine independents have 56 ships (7%). The really big fish are foundations, who have 196 cargo ships (25%). This is, I think, quite odd.

Whilst you might want to adjust absolute numbers, noting that this is the high end of what the data implies, the relative values are correct. I'm sure there are other, inconsistent, numbers elsewhere. 

Libertines are the dominant force in merchant shipping, with a commercial fleet greater than all of ESA combined. Indeed, a large Libertine family probably is more powerful in this respect than America.

Clearly, the numbers of starships existing in MgT would be implied to be much lower than in GDW 2k3, wherein there were about 2,000 merchant ships vs <800 in MgT.

Economics of Libertines - How Does Smuggling Work?

As part of their anti-capitalist agenda, they refuse to trade with Earth, and act as smugglers on the frontier. This ignores the fact that the colonies are sovereign territories of their parent nation, and access to them is controlled by the colonial power. It seems to be based upon the American Revolution, wherein smugglers were price gouging the population of the American colonies, and staged attacks on cheaper, legally imported goods to keep the prices high. The point of smuggling is that it avoids importation duty; that is the tax paid on importing goods. However, within an economic bloc, there may not be any import duty at all. The whole point of import duty is to keep imports out so as to protect local manufacturing and production. It is the opposite of what the merchantile system aims to do within an economic bloc. Exclusion, or heavy duty is typically only leveled on imports from outside the economic bloc.

Let us be clear - nations other than the colonising power would love to have access to the colonies resources. The entire point of a colony, which is a freakishly expensive endeavor, is for the colonising power to gain access to said resources, and exclude others. Tariffs within a colonial trading bloc would be extremely counterproductive at every level. Trade agreements between nations are typically on the basis of quid pro quo. The ESA nations, for example, would appear to have trade agreements allowing trade between their colonies. Hence, Hochbaden and Dunkelheim are major food importers from Nous Voila (except for when an Imperial German squadron blockaded Dunkelheim in 2292-3). The French Empire is a free trade advocate, as befits their status as the largest colonial trading power. The Americans appear to be quite protectionist. The Manchurians might not have that much control of some of their ports. For the colonies, breaking trade agreements with their parent would likely involve a loss of subsidies, and potentially long term economic ruin, such as happened in Elysia.

GDW 2k3 is clear that manufactured goods cost 2-3 times the list price on the frontier, depending on the distance from the manufacturing centre. The colonies aren't being gouged, but rather paying the price for transport. Consider the following:

Example: a GDW family car (0.8 tons) costs Lv2,500 to purchase on Earth. On the frontier, it has come up the gravity well (Lv600 via the beanstalk or Lv2,400 by spaceplane), and been transported at Lv16 per ly (it's low volume) to the world, where the price to bring it down the well will be about Lv240. If the journey is 50 ly and the beanstalk isn't used, then the cost of the car is Lv2,500 + Lv2,400 + Lv800 + Lv240 = Lv5,940. This is indeed between two and three times the cost on Earth. Via the Beanstalk, said car only costs Lv4,140 on the frontier.

The question for smugglers thus is; can they undercut legitimate, legal trade. There don't seem to be any duties to avoid (within an economic bloc), and so it's perhaps about bringing in foreign goods. Can they sell a family car to a colony 50 ly from Earth for less than Lv4,140? Can they do so and make more profit than legitimate trade? Of course, if one indulges in piracy then the goods are effectively free (excepting the cost of having an armed starship). It is the MgT authors intention that this is not the case.

Indeed, the MgT author stated that governments subsidise transport, and often pay the whole of the interface cost of their exports. This would obliterate any price advantage the Libertines would have, and collapse the prices further. The family car, if the lift to orbit was subsidised, only costs Lv3,540 on the frontier, well below double the cost on Earth. The governments run their own transports, and hence wouldn't pay commercial rates. Frankly, any colonial government could undercut the Libertines on price, assuming the Libertines aren't just stealing the goods they're selling.

Is there a nearby source of cars which could not be utilised in legal trade due to barriers? Certainly not on the French Arm. There is free trade amongst the ESA members, and Ukraine and Japan are close associates of the ESA nations and so likely also have free trade, and so nothing for smugglers to smuggle between them. This leaves TANSTAAFL, Elysia and Kie-Yuma. Trilon corporation won't have much truck with smuggling. TANSTAAFL was created by corporations and is extremely free-market, but also highly corrupt, with the government demanding bribes at every level. TANSTAAFL is highly dependent on German imports to function, and in many ways a German dependency. Elysia is a basketcase rebel colony without a government, nor an economy above subsistence agriculture. None of these is a good case for smuggling.

So there's the other kind of smuggling - illegal goods. That's items stolen by pirates, slaves, narcotics etc. Such items may fetch a pretty price, but trading in them makes the Libertines something else.

There is not really any good niche for the Libertines to actually fit into; certainly not on the French Arm or American Arm (where they are target practice for the ASF). What about the Chinese Arm?

The Chinese Arm

The Chinese Arm consists of the following worlds, in the following arrangement:

• Cold Mountain - the Manchurian colonists on Cold Mountain are extremely xenophobic, and trade (ore) is mostly with Manchuria or nearby Manchu colonies. There is a belt in the system, which is mined by Manchuria with British assistance.
  
• Daikoku - this is a Japanese world, with an Arabian colony as an economic satellite (the Arabs use Japanese ships). It is a productive, mature world, producing food which is exported to Zeta Tucanae and Rho Eridani, and ores, especially from the moon
• Syuhlahm - Manchuria's colony is perhaps one in name only, with "Anglos" in the positions of power, and formal British and Japanese concessions within the colony. The Cantonese have their own colony. The Cantonese colony is a producer, whilst the "Manchu" colony is industrial, and consumes minerals from the Cantonese colony and off-world.
• Rho Eridani - an entirely agricultural world whose existence was entirely to support an offworld belt-mining in an adjacent system (there is no outpost there).
• Chengdu - a world that features a productive Manchurian mining colony, and a "Manchurian in name only" agricultural colony with a huge, unproductive city full of Canadians etc. whose claim to fame is that it's where genetic engineering labs do experiments that are illegal on Earth. It is likely a large exporter of minerals back to Manchuria, and a food and manufactured goods importer
• Doris - a tiny Canadian colony (probably with a population in the tens of thousands). Exports are plastics and composites.
• Kwangtung - a Manchu penal colony which received an influx of Mexicans (rather than a separate Mexican colony as per the original list, way to nerf Mexico), which is a mineral exporter.
• Dukou - another Manchu penal colony which is small and concerned only with the mines. The overseer class are French, Canadians and Mexicans. It gives a starting income for a colonial worker as Lv19,000, and says that's low. Almost everything is imported.
• Montana - a nominally Argentine-Mexican world which staged a successful rebellion against the mother countries in the 2270's and now is only nominally a colony. It trades freely with everyone, but the population of 2.25 million doesn't have much to sell, apart from maybe some minerals.
• Austin's World - the Texans decided to make a heavy industrial base here, but minerals are all imported.
• Paulo - a new colony, which doesn't really produce ought yet, and is locked into Brazil, with all trade being exclusively with Brazil.
• Stark - probably a free-for-all, with nations trading with the Sung.
  

 

For any "free trader", the big colonies of Cold Mountain and Daikoku are out. They are protectionist, and trade carried exclusively on the ships of their colonising nations. There is some indication that the British are involved in belt-mining at Cold Mountain, but this may be as contractors to the Manchu government. Syuhlahm has a British and Japanese concession, which likely breaks Manchu protectionism, but perhaps comes under British (ESA) and Japanese protectionism. At Rho Eridani, the ex-Federal Germans can still trade as ESA members (so British and French ships can call here). One would expect to see British and French merchants carrying trade along that finger to Earth, as well as Japanese.

Chenghu, Kwangtung and Dukou would be Manchurian trade protectorates. Doris is far from everything, and likely only visited by government sponsored Canadian (and British) ships, or perhaps chartered tramps to carry exports from the corporations. Paulo is only open to Brazilian ships. Montana is, however, an open port. Austin's World may be one too. Both worlds are heavily influenced by the Life Foundation (as is Chengdu). This would allow merchants of other nations to buy and carry their exports, and sell imported goods to them.

There isn't really space for "Libertines." The major trade ports on the Chinese Arm are highly protectionist. This may create a lot of tension on Chenghu and Syuhlahm, where there are large non-Manchu populations "under the yoke." However, a Libertine could not carry trade there. It's only really a couple of worlds in the Latin Finger where state power is broken, and ports would be open to traders. They'd be competing with much larger trading companies or blocs, and likely would not be competitive.

It seems that instead the Libertines make their living carrying cargo mostly between Belter communities; something that doesn't exist in GDW 2k3 (see appendix 3). What they carry is an interesting question, because trading ore for different ore isn't a business model. What the belters will need is food, oxygen, life support etc., and that comes from the national colonies.

Conclusions

Firstly, in both GDW and MgT 2k3, the demand for starship transport outstrips supply. A starship acting as a transport makes multiple times the production cost in a single year in both systems. Ergo, the production of starships is restricted. If availability of starships was only limited by the price of production, then something like low cost airlines, or modern shipping companies, could exist and the price would reach a new, much lower, equilibrium point.

GDW 2k3 seems to have the availability of starships being a staged affair. Initially, only some of the big nations (and agencies thereof) that also had access to tantalum had starships. Russia, for example, had no access to tantalum and so couldn't build starships. Around the 2240's-50's major corporations start managing to acquire starships for themselves. This coincides with the French reasserting their power, and fits with a liberal France contrasted against a protectionist America and Manchuria. Finally, in SotFA there are mentions of really old antiques, or even some newly built small transports, being sold to small shipping companies in the more recent decades. Nothing like this seems to exist in MgT 2k3, with religious nutjobs being able to buy starships before the invention of the stardrive (a point to be explored in a later post).

GDW 2k3 had independent traders, but they probably didn't follow the Traveller model. Instead, independent traders mostly stuck to hiring space on ships. This is a good system that's in many ways far superior for adventuring. If your PC's are crew on a regular merchant ship then they can engage in speculative trade, but it also places them "on a rail" with respect to planning adventures. The ship calls at the desired port, and adventuring happens whilst the cargo is being offloaded etc. It also allows for some interesting world-building, since the PC's will visit the same places many times, allowing for development.

The Libertine trader fails at basically every level. Firstly, it requires a major restructuring of the history to make the Libertines possible, and then they are very forced. The very idea of them being gypsies is, perhaps, stereotyping them. I would have rather had some kind of organic development, say from early colonials.

The sheer scale and power of the Libertines is huge. They have more merchants than ESA. There are probably single Libertine families with more resources than the United States. Yet, they don't actually engage in the primary trades in Human space. They are locked out of basically all the colonies. However, with the level of power their sheer size would give them, they could dominate this trade and make huge amounts of money. The colonial powers like France can't hope to match the Libertines. Yet they clearly do.

How do we resolve this paradox? We are told not to try and resolve it. It is author fiat.

My personal opinion is that the Libertines literally broke the background. There is no hint of anything like them in the GDW universe. Now, as a recent development in the GDW universe very small, single ship trading companies have come into being. They are, of course, riding the coat-tails of the major Earth governments, who have put in all the expense of settling colonies, building port infrastructure etc., and own such. Making money largely means playing nice with said colonial powers.

The Libertines, as written, and contrary to the wishes of the author, are clearly a criminal enterprise. The only way they can work is as a front for piracy. It the Challenge piracy articles, which I personally don't fit well, they are the "carry" of a "catch and carry team." The navies should be taking Libertine ships as prizes.

 

 

Appendix 1: A Survey of When Commercial Starships Became Available

Reading SotFA; "virtually all" the Commercants (first built 2249) are in the private (i.e. corporate) sector. The Metals were government, but one of the four has been sold to the Truax corporation for the Kie-Yuma to Earth mineral run. The German government built more than 20 Krupp-821's for itself, and some are now in corporate hands. Some 50-year old Shenyang's were sold by the Manchurians in the 2250's as surplus, and bought by small corporations (the reactor would be in a poor state). 

The Nigerian Maiduguri is a nuclear powered freighter, built by the Nigerian government (remembering that Nigeria was and is incorporated into the French economic system) and sold to shipping companies from about the 2250's onwards. The Hudson was built for the Canadian government (by Britain? Canada didn't build a starship until the 2290's by E/CS) and employed by that government. No mention of any being sold off is made.

The three Guiana's were built for a French corporation (first complete in 2269), and all three still fly under the Tricolor. The five Brazilian Vaca's were part of the mainstay of the Brazilian colonial effort on Tirane, with the first built in 2217 (the colony was a token, and real colonisation didn't start until the 2210's). They were converted into passenger transports for the Paulo colonisation effort (although the Paulo writeup says they acquired three Yorks). Three of the Vaca's were sold to companies, but one of those was taken back, suggesting it was more of a long-term lease.

The BC-4 (2237) confirms that in the 2230's the British government couldn't simply purchase transports to move minerals from Tirane to Earth. It does mention that now some of these have "owners," which could be megacorps. Some BC-7's (2259) have been sold to the Manchurian government for their belt mines. Finally, the Mammoth (2292) is a small, expensive and inefficient freighter sold by MidTech, and available for purchase.

Under the couriers, the Merkur (2283) is built by a company, although the DSKM bought them. The Faidi (2270) is also a commercial product, with 21 being sold in 30 years. Most of the "nearly one hundred" Thorez's (2271) are "independently owned and operated."

In the Colonial Atlas, Trilon corporation had a survey ship (ISV-4) in 2250, but needed to lease a York from the British government to actually move people to Kie-Yuma.

In the 1st edition core book (repeated in 2nd), the Anjou and derivatives (nearly 600 ships since 2267) are considered to be outclassed by newer ships and are often sold off to bodies such as the Australian government. The Yorks (2225) are sold off to minor nations. The Desarge passenger liners (2275) have a level of sophistication for a privately produced ship not matched by major militaries of the time. A hundred ISV-5's have been produced in a decade.

It should be noted, the direct statement that ships were restricted to major governments and corporations was made only in the second edition. Things were fluid in the 1st edition, and hence the large numbers of Anjou's and ISV-5's don't jibe with later works.

However, it's clear that until ca. 2240-2250, prettymuch all the starships flying belonged to governments or government agencies (including some foundations). In the 2230's, the British government couldn't just buy starships, and that's a fairly big fish. Around 2250-60, large corporations, with government support, started acquiring starships of their own. Finally, as you come into the period just before 2300, small shipping companies based around a single ship, often an old one that's not terribly useful, start appearing. There may be something resembling an owner-operator in the Traveller style, but it's probably not major, and is really quite recent. There may be some backing from bigger fish.

The one known "free trader" in a canonical work, the Daisy May of Deathwatch Program, is probably a front for an intelligence agency. Hence it having two nuclear stutterwarp missiles, and being willing to use them in close proximity to Earth.

Appendix 2: The Changes to the Life Foundation

In GDW 2k3, the Life Foundation were a bunch of idealists who wanted to spread humanity to the colony worlds. To this end they were effectively a recruitment agency, finding talented individuals with rare skills that the national colonisation programs could use. Their most notable achievement was founding their own colony, New Cambridge, on an island on Austin's World. The Life Foundation had already invested heavily in the failing American colony on Hermes (and are the reason there still is a colony there), and made other investments. They wanted to establish their own "model colony" and did so in 2258.

New Cambridge, the model colony, is a communist technocracy run by a central committee called "The Council of Science and Engineering." The means of production are all owned by the state, and no citizen is allowed to own capital. There are no taxes, but the citizens are expected to dedicate themselves to the Foundation. Their economic base is a solar power satellite which sells the Texan colony of New Travis most of their power, probably combined with income from their shares in Hermes' Mule Corporation.

They were also heavily involved on Montana and Chengdu. Montana rebelled against INAP, and now is not economically tied to Argentina and Mexico. Chengdu is a timebomb of non-Manchurian elites in the one major city, and Manchurian workers. One should expect a Boxer rebellion situation to develop.

In MgT 2k3, the space communists plot to overthrow the capitalist system and allow all the colonies to become self-governing communist technocracies. Their chosen instrument - give a bunch of gypsies stutterwarp drives. Where did the Life Foundation, who have no shipyards, tantalum mines or the like, get stutterwarp drives? Good question, and one without an answer. The idea seems to be to undermine the colonial system by carrying trade between the colonies. Seems a lot like contributing to the upkeep of the capitalist system to me.

However, the space communist aspect basically scans. The Life Foundation wants to set up Gramscian re-education centres in your colony under the guise of universities, and will pay lots of money to do so. However, they're indoctrinating the colonials to rebel and establish their own communist state. Your turn next Hermes!

The Libertines as a means to an end that don't scan, and I can't see how they'd further this aim. Far better for the Life Foundation would be for them to run their own merchant ships, flying the Life Foundation flag. Remember, once the Life Foundation and Trilon founded their own colonies, they became nation-states in their own right, and can fly ships under their own flag. The Life Foundation would likely be a far better flag than Vanuatu. The Life Foundation actually has some power.

Appendix 3: The Belter Trope

MgT 2k3 also indulges in the Belter trope. Whilst the belts are indeed mined, in GDW there is no population of "belters" any more than the North Sea has a population of "riggers." The belts are only a few days of travel from the colony worlds (or Earth), and the belts have no real population. The Nyotekundu SB covers this sort of mining well. Without labouring the point, belt mining in GDW 2k3 is more like deep sea oil extraction than Expanse-esque "belter communities." 

We have a career for belt miners in the Nyotekundu SB:

Belt Miner: Belt miners are trained in the discovery of resources in deep space, usually in an asteroid belt, a gas giant ring system, or the Trojan points of a large, high-G planet. They may be in the employ of a large company (such as AMEC, in this adventure), or they may be independents who prospect in hopes of making a big strike and setting themselves up for life. It is a rugged life, and it takes a self-reliant, determined individual to carve a niche for himself in this dangerous line of work.

The belt mines are, at most, mining camps. There simply aren't belters in 2300AD, or at least not in the core universe.