Entre Rios
Established Nation
The fears of re-becoming a Rentier State: Engellkin's most protectionist country
AP Camp Hill
Analysis by John KaMpande, PhD
Mining has been the bloodline of Natalia's development over the ages. From the expeditions of the Retalian merchants to find the golden kingdom of Prester John, which was nothing more than the Second Rozvi Empire, to the recent merge which created the gargantuan Natalo-Engellexic plc conglomerate, owning around 40% of the platinum reserves of the world and having more than 100,000 permanent employees, the lives of the people living along the Natal River have always been inherently tied to the riches of the underworld.
The 20th century saw Natalia becoming the perfect example of a Rentier State presented in all the economy textbooks. Its old industry from the 19th century was laggining behind as it lacked the necessary inovation to keep itself up to date with its competitiors, while the state itself and its people weren't that much interested in that as they were all enjoying the good life offered by the capital pouring into the country by the rents payed by the mining corporations.
The laissez faire capitalism espoused by the Hippos have created an economy dependent solely on the mining sector. In the 1980s and the 1990s, the Hippo administration has used the money it received from the mining licences to lower taxes, going as far as fully abolishing income tax between 1985 and 1999. Since then, market fluctuations have shown that the country has become extremely vulnerable to price fluctuations, which has been seen in the 2003 economic crisis, where the GDP has fallen by nearly 10% because of the price crash for precious metals.
Since then, the national strategy has started mimicking the policies of the 1950s and Civism has been reborn with the return of the Stone family back for the forefront of Federal politics. Under their administration, especially when John Lewis Stone was the Sub-Secretary of Finance and Economy from 2004 to 2009, the state started pushing for re-industrialisation, so that there would be other economic sectors strong enough to alleviate the brunt of any recession should there be a price crash again in the mining industry.
The policies have been adopted by the Hippos too, but the untimely death of JLS has made this adoption to be very timid by the Bradley Ross administration and only now, that the Hyenas have returned to power, we can see the mining funded economic boom really reaching its planned growth rate.
Under the leadership of the Hyenas and Adrianne Stone, the state has increased the rents for the mining licences and has used much of the wealth fund it had to subsidise the development of other industries, from the Hartnett Auto company, to electrical infrastructure projects like the Rocamera Geo-plant and the Lower Natalian Wind Farm, to the service industry, with the creation of the Central Himyari Commercial Bank, and subsiding the expansions of franchises such as Unathi's and Sun Belt Grocers, but also appliance companies like Sun Electric. Another part of it was invested outside the Federation's borders, especially in Loago and Cabaon, with the Federal Investment Corporation (FIC) investing in the Caledonian Himyari Company, and is now owing 40% of its shares, but also Tasiast Mining Inc, operating in Cabaon, which was originally a subsidiary of CHC and now it was the mastermind behind the creation of the biggest mining conglomerate of them all, the Natalo-Engelexic plc.
The mining economy of Natalia might have been the anchor that kept the government tied to realpolitik during the years, but it also was a curse. In 1955, when Kadikistan was enjoying its greatest days when it was exporting the Marxist-Leninovist Revolution all over the place, from Caledonia to Calidia, from Milesia to Bezonvaux and Loago, the Camp Hill government, was one of the main defenders of freedom and liberty in Himyar and was the main antagonist in the southern hemisphere in the eyes of the communists, but that didn't stop Ier from buying 15 tons of gold on the 4th of August from Natalia, five days after Natalian and Kadikistani aligned agents were clashing in Loago in the country's first civil war. But yet is was also a curse as that was seen in the closing of the other industries in the 80s and 90s, as mining was seen as the only important element and the other just stagnated until they could not compete on the markets. The likes of the Natalian Bush War in the 70s and the 2003 economic crash have shown that even if the underground might be rich, depending fully on it, made the country vulnerable.
It is exactly this fear that drives Natalian economic policy today. With the 7 Day War in Gallo-Germania, the Bush War in Loago and the recent tensions, the price of iron ore and other minerals remains high and this keeps the economy booming, but the Hyenas know that this might not last forever and they are doing everything they can with the wealth they accumulated to diversity the economy in such a way that it won't be so dependent solely on mining and the episodes of the 70s and 2003 may never repeat.
AP Camp Hill
Analysis by John KaMpande, PhD
Mining has been the bloodline of Natalia's development over the ages. From the expeditions of the Retalian merchants to find the golden kingdom of Prester John, which was nothing more than the Second Rozvi Empire, to the recent merge which created the gargantuan Natalo-Engellexic plc conglomerate, owning around 40% of the platinum reserves of the world and having more than 100,000 permanent employees, the lives of the people living along the Natal River have always been inherently tied to the riches of the underworld.
The 20th century saw Natalia becoming the perfect example of a Rentier State presented in all the economy textbooks. Its old industry from the 19th century was laggining behind as it lacked the necessary inovation to keep itself up to date with its competitiors, while the state itself and its people weren't that much interested in that as they were all enjoying the good life offered by the capital pouring into the country by the rents payed by the mining corporations.
The laissez faire capitalism espoused by the Hippos have created an economy dependent solely on the mining sector. In the 1980s and the 1990s, the Hippo administration has used the money it received from the mining licences to lower taxes, going as far as fully abolishing income tax between 1985 and 1999. Since then, market fluctuations have shown that the country has become extremely vulnerable to price fluctuations, which has been seen in the 2003 economic crisis, where the GDP has fallen by nearly 10% because of the price crash for precious metals.
Since then, the national strategy has started mimicking the policies of the 1950s and Civism has been reborn with the return of the Stone family back for the forefront of Federal politics. Under their administration, especially when John Lewis Stone was the Sub-Secretary of Finance and Economy from 2004 to 2009, the state started pushing for re-industrialisation, so that there would be other economic sectors strong enough to alleviate the brunt of any recession should there be a price crash again in the mining industry.
The policies have been adopted by the Hippos too, but the untimely death of JLS has made this adoption to be very timid by the Bradley Ross administration and only now, that the Hyenas have returned to power, we can see the mining funded economic boom really reaching its planned growth rate.
Under the leadership of the Hyenas and Adrianne Stone, the state has increased the rents for the mining licences and has used much of the wealth fund it had to subsidise the development of other industries, from the Hartnett Auto company, to electrical infrastructure projects like the Rocamera Geo-plant and the Lower Natalian Wind Farm, to the service industry, with the creation of the Central Himyari Commercial Bank, and subsiding the expansions of franchises such as Unathi's and Sun Belt Grocers, but also appliance companies like Sun Electric. Another part of it was invested outside the Federation's borders, especially in Loago and Cabaon, with the Federal Investment Corporation (FIC) investing in the Caledonian Himyari Company, and is now owing 40% of its shares, but also Tasiast Mining Inc, operating in Cabaon, which was originally a subsidiary of CHC and now it was the mastermind behind the creation of the biggest mining conglomerate of them all, the Natalo-Engelexic plc.
The mining economy of Natalia might have been the anchor that kept the government tied to realpolitik during the years, but it also was a curse. In 1955, when Kadikistan was enjoying its greatest days when it was exporting the Marxist-Leninovist Revolution all over the place, from Caledonia to Calidia, from Milesia to Bezonvaux and Loago, the Camp Hill government, was one of the main defenders of freedom and liberty in Himyar and was the main antagonist in the southern hemisphere in the eyes of the communists, but that didn't stop Ier from buying 15 tons of gold on the 4th of August from Natalia, five days after Natalian and Kadikistani aligned agents were clashing in Loago in the country's first civil war. But yet is was also a curse as that was seen in the closing of the other industries in the 80s and 90s, as mining was seen as the only important element and the other just stagnated until they could not compete on the markets. The likes of the Natalian Bush War in the 70s and the 2003 economic crash have shown that even if the underground might be rich, depending fully on it, made the country vulnerable.
It is exactly this fear that drives Natalian economic policy today. With the 7 Day War in Gallo-Germania, the Bush War in Loago and the recent tensions, the price of iron ore and other minerals remains high and this keeps the economy booming, but the Hyenas know that this might not last forever and they are doing everything they can with the wealth they accumulated to diversity the economy in such a way that it won't be so dependent solely on mining and the episodes of the 70s and 2003 may never repeat.