Starbound: Economics

[gothwalk]

I invite your speculations: How could an interstellar economy work? Assume FTL travel is possible, but not instantaneous.

(Given that our own economies seem, from my point of view, to work on a principle of not being examined too closely, feel free to propose outrageous possibilities.)

EDIT: To answer questions, mostly about the parameters of FTL...

FTL does not rely on a constructed infrastructure, but does rely on naturally occurring, unevenly distibuted features of space-time.

The economy is the several-kinds-meeting type.

FTL has more in common with a train than a hand-pushed cart, but sailing ships are a better analogy.

Travel is expensive, but not ludicrously so - think sun holidays now; you can't do it all the time, but once a year is ordinary. More importantly, it requires a skilled pilot. Certain routes have size limitations on traffic. Space tourism is definitely a happening thing.

Travel time is about one to four hours to a neighbouring star system at the very best (local conditions may increase that greatly, but never reduce it below a theoretical optimum) and about a year and a half to cross human-occupied space one way. [Actual numbers subject to change, but about that feel.]

Comments

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

Have you read the Algebraist? One culture has "kudos". The more kudos you have the more people will do for you, because that gives them kudos. Like celebrity hiardressers/fitness instructors, I suppose. You loose kudos if you try to hard to get it. Sounds like being cool.
There isn't a conversion between kudos and the main economy. Their culture is pretty separate and they help if they feel like it. But they will trade information.

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

Cory Doctorow's Whuffie in Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom operates on the same principle, and I've postulated an economy that runs on professional esteem in my fantasy campaign world too. Worth considering, but hard to regulate on a very large scale.

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

No, I can't see it working on a large scale. It's essentially a social system. But it might work as one of multiple economies.