Yesterday was… eventful.
Welp, it’s time to get back to work. Remember, your job is more important than your mental health. If you have time to recover from traumatic events, you have time to fill out spreadsheets.
I came across some promising information, that being that there are relatively few cultural and economic barriers between nations. Due to this, I am able to treat multiple nations as one single economy within reports. There are still international trade issues I’ll need to discuss eventually, but this is very convenient.
With that out of the way, I move on to the next task. I am reviewing the production and consumption reports of various goods and services. For the most part these seem normal. Prices, supply, and demand seem relatively normal until…
What the fuck is going on in the construction market??
The number of new buildings built per year has been falling rapidly. Due to this the cost of shops, houses, and any other building is soaring at rapid rates. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough information to pinpoint a cause just yet.
I go through the rest of the rest of the information and find other problematic information. The first thing I want to find out is what is going on in construction.
I leave my room and find Sara waiting outside the door. I am confused about how to act around her to be honest. I thought of her as just a normal timid girl for a while, but that little outburst she had in the jewelry store kind of changed that.
Oh well, that was probably a one-time event. What’s much more important than if I’m hanging out with a sociopath is this weird trend in the market.
We have a casual conversation as I go to the meeting room. I sit down in the normal spot and exchange some greetings. I laid out the reports in front of me and got to talking. Of course, I crack a wide smile before this conversation. This seemed to cause some people to shiver.
“Now then, tell me everything about the construction market… everything.” I request politely.
“Um, the price of buildings seems to be going up.” Aric responded.
“Yep.”
“We have been fighting to lower prices for a while!”
“Please tell me how.”
“We set a maximum price of lumber, bricks, stone for construction, and other materials.”
“Ah… that makes sense.”
Price ceilings huh?
“Ahem, what time is it?”
“11 am…” Augustine responds.
“WRONG YOU OLD FUCK! IT’S TIME FOR SUPPLY AND DEMAND BABY! HELL YEAH!”
I was overjoyed! How could I not be! It’s a very rare occasion for us econ gremlins to be able to rant about supply and demand for a long period of time with nobody stopping us.
“Now then, listen up well, because I am willing to say this a hundred times if I need to. I guarantee you don’t want that.
When we talk about supply and demand we are referring to perfectly competitive markets. In a perfectly competitive market: there are many buyers and sellers, firms don’t get to choose the price they sell at, people can enter and exit the market freely, and some other conditions.”
“What do you mean firms don’t choose the price?” Audrey the 20 something year old queen asked.
“In a perfectly competitive market no one firm has enough market power to determine the price. If they charge higher than the market price, then costumers will just buy from someone else who sells at the price.”
“I see, they can’t sell higher than the market price because there exist firms that do.”
“Exactly. Now let’s get to some important terms. The law of supply states that when price goes up, so does the quantity supplied. When price falls, firms supply less because they have little incentive to sell at a low price.
Quantity supplied is the amount of a good firms are willing to sell at a specific price. Quantity supplies is graphed on the supply curve, which is a line showing the relationship between price and amount supplied.
A change in quantity supplied is when you move from on point on the curve to another. A change in supply is when the curve as a whole shifts to the left or right. Changes in quantity supplied usually comes from short term price changes.
Changes in supply are a bit more complicated. Some causes can be technological advancements, changes in price of related goods, changes in input prices, etc. When a change in supply occurs, the price can either get higher or lower with the same amount of output.”
I take a short break after this to breathe and sip my tea. I draw them a supply curve and eat some cookies that were made for me.
“Demand is the next thing we need to talk about. The law of demand states that consumers buy more when the price is lower. There is an inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded.
There is a demand curve which shows the relationship between price and quantity demanded just like with supply.
Shifts in demand are just like shifts in supply. They are caused by factors such as change in price of similar goods, trends, etc.
The most important things to remember is that when price is high, there is a lot of supply and little demand. When prices are low there is a lot of demand and little supply.”
Now its time to move into combining these two concepts.
“Supply and demand curves when graphed out intersect. The point where supply and demand meet is called market equilibrium. In a perfectly competitive market, the price and quantity demanded will be sold at equilibrium, which is considered to be efficient.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
When the price is higher than equilibrium price, you get a surplus. When price is lower than equilibrium, you get a shortage.
While this model is built on a lot of assumptions, and is abstract. It holds a great deal of truth to it, and looking from a lens of supply and demand can give a lot of insight into what a policy will cause.”
Now then, it is time to move onto what I really wanted to talk about today. The reason why the construction industry is totally fucked.
“Now after talking about how a market creates prices, let us get to the point. Who the fuck thought it would be a good idea for the government to come in and set a maximum price for building materials?”
Everybody looked away immediately and started sweating. It would seem that nobody is willing to tell, it might take some investigation. That is when I get a tap on my right shoulder.
“Everybody decided on this together.” Sara tells me.
Ah I see, it was a group decision. Well, as much as I hate with people messing with market equilibrium, all we can do now is cut our losses and move forward.
“A price ceiling, which is what was implemented creates a shortage of goods produced. This shortage affected the building industry, a shortage of materials limited the number of buildings produced. When supply is low, prices are high. This change not only limited the number of buildings created, but also jacked up the price.
This is what we will do to fix the problem. Immediately repeal these price ceilings. Each nation will also be responsible for offering loans to lumber, brick, and quarrying companies to encourage more people to enter the industry.
With this increase in possible inputs, we should be able to stimulate building construction and hopefully reduce the price of homes and storefronts.”
The nation’s leaders start discussing how they are going to implement this policy. Luckily, they are very competent with actually implementing these ideas, I’m not the best with that.
I began to leave with Sara again, but I got stopped by Aric. He invited me to a tea party, and I don’t really consider myself in the position to be refusing requests from a monarch. We went to some fancy room high up in the castle.
“Ahaha, don’t be so stiff I. I’m not here to talk business. Rather there is someone I want to introduce you to, this is my little sister Anna. I understand you have been having trouble navigating the political situation of this world? Our father trained her perfectly to be a political too- I mean a knowledgeable and worldly woman! I can tell you are quite progressive, we have quite the feminist culture in our great country I assure you! We allow women to read without being accused of witchcraft! They are sometimes allowed to speak in a professional setting!”
Oh God why does this world have to be so backwards? Hearing them talk about oppressing women for ‘their benefit’ makes me feel like I’m listening to a red pill podcast. My gag reflex is acting up pretty hard.
“It is nice to meet you sir hero.” She had black hair and green eyes. She was taller than me, a bit more muscular, and came of as exhausted by dealing with people like me. She in fact sighed very hard. I like her already.
“So, why are you introducing us? I imagine it is not just to brag about your feminist culture in Slavonia?”
“I have instructed her to act as your aid. She is very politically competent for a woman; I am sure you will have use for her. Oh, and don’t worry about her putting in subpar effort! I have a hostage to keep her in line!”
“Why am I starting to think everyone in this world is a sociopath?”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Well, I guess I got what I wanted, a politically skilled person in my entourage. Though he only just said she was skilled, I will truly find out later. For now, I should probably introduce myself and relax a bit for the day.
We head to the garden, Anna walks in front of me while we head there, and Sara holds onto my arm with a grip tight enough that I’m afraid it will fall off. Anna has a black and green dress that complements her hair and eyes perfectly. He dresses cuts off at her sins, showing off her lewd ankles. You go girl! Fight the patriarchy one step at a time.
“Haha, wow Mil, you really are looking at her a lot aren’t you. I should have known the hero would be bold enough to add women to his harem even just a day after you take me as your girlfriend. It’s almost as if you’re saying I’m not good enough…” Sara says while digging her nails into my arm.
“Wait wait when did we start dating? Also, how could you not be good enough? You are a literal Disney princess. If you’re not good enough, then I’m a cockroach. Except my penis is so small they have to take the cock out of my name… I’m just a pathetic little roach aren’t I…” I respond dejectedly.
“Oh my God will you two quit the pity party?” Anna interjected.
“I’m sorry my self esteem has been in the gutter ever since my 7th grade crush called me ‘mid’.” I add.
“What the fuck is ‘mid’”. Anna asks.
“Never mind.”
So that conversation ended with a bang. When we got to the garden, I decided to do something I hadn’t done since coming to this world, something that has been a vital part of my life’s routine for a long time now, something that keeps my edge as an economist sharp.
…
Sara POV
My name is Sara Slavoniana, I am the princess of my country. A goal in my life so far has been to expand women’s rights. I am fully committed to this cause; I will do anything for the sake of progress.
I’m 23 years old, I have been writing feminist philosophy books, spreading my ideals throughout the young nobility in my country, and establishing alliances in court since I was 14. So, when I heard there was a hero, I was shocked, as this man has the power to singlehandedly lead a revolution. I had to meet him; I formally requested my brother to introduce me. He seemed to think I was going to request a marriage which is why he went along with it.
I know I am going to be forced into marriage someday. That is why I intend to secure as powerful of a position as possible. Marrying the hero would be ideal, but I am not going to bet on it.
Still, when Aric introduced us with marriage in mind as me supporting him with my knowledge of politics he accepted. I will play it by ear, if I can turn him into an ally then I will. This first impression will be vital, I must be on my A game.
Or so I thought, soon enough, my illusions of the grand hero who is the perfect genius were shattered.
“hehe this wine tastes super-duper! I’m glad I came to this world, I used to get drunk on cheap Bacardi and Jack Daniels, now I’m getting drunk on the good shit. How much is this wine worth Anna??” Milton was loudly asking.
“About the yearly salary of a coal miner.”
“THIS BOTTLE IS DEDICATED TO THE COAL MINERS OF THE WORLD!! WHERE ARE MY COAL MINERS AT??”
Milton the Hero jumped up and shouted in the garden. The maids were all stunned and simply stood there shaking, having no idea how to respond to this.
“YEAHH COAL MINERS!!” Sara joined in.
Is this really God’s chosen hero and the Saint of the Empire? They just look like two lunatic drunks in the garden.
“You not drinkin’ Anna? Why don’t you let loose and show the world who’s boss?” Milton asked in his quite voice.
“I don’t drink more than one glass in a sitting.” I respond.
“Okay… I won’t force ya’” he responded.
That was quite sweet of him. I guess even while drunk he is a decent person. Maybe I should look more favorably at him.
“More for me then! Let’s get waisted Sara!”
“Hell yeah!”
Or not.
They continued drinking until the mood turned sour on Milton’s end. He dropped the bottle on the ground and started crying into Sara’s chest. She rubbed his head and told him to let it all out.
He told me earlier that his strategy for getting through the week was bottling up all of emotions inside of himself. Then he gets extremely wasted and lets out all of his feelings. He said he would usually watch a movie called “a dog’s purpose” to help him cry. Not that I know what a movie is, let alone that one.
“I’m a failure Sara! Nobody will ever love me the way I love regressions!”
“You aren’t a failure, Milton! You are special and amazing and cool!”
“I’m not cool. I’m a nerd who will never be as good at math as a STEM major. I’m a subpar nerd.”
“I don’t know what that means, but everything will be alright.”
Well, getting drunk and crying is not a very healthy way to deal with your problems. But everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt. Nobody is perfect after all, that’s why we shouldn’t judge people on their lows.
“Sara, if I were a bird, I would fly to the moon and poop on it.”
“You would be such a cute bird.”
“No, I would be majestic.”
“You would!”
Ok, I’m going to go put these two drunks to bed.