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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8817758" data-attributes="member: 42582">I'm only replying to a couple of bits, to illustrate our points of disagreement.Yes, it's a progressive transaction tax. There are plenty of real-world economist who advocate these, though often on a consumption rather than border-crossing basis. Wealthy traders presumably also gain more benefit from the trade they participate in (hence their wealth) and so can afford these fees as a price of getting access to the intermediation opportunities that the Citadel provides.Someone upthread described the city as being run on "collectivist" principles, with a universal basic income. Which implies that import taxes are being used to establish a common fund that is then distributed directly to the citizenry.There are many countries in the real world that have high consumption taxes and use these to (partly) fund social services. One could even call this the "EU model".Is consumption in the Citadel depressed by higher prices, or increased by widespread spending capacity (due to distribution of tax revenue to citizens)? Real-world economist disagree on the answer to this sort of question despite the reams of data and working examples they have ready-to-hand. No one can claim to know the "true" answer for an imaginary city in the Deep Ethereal.3. Because of how the notportals work its trivially easy for merchants to bypass the Citadel and instead go to a trade hub in a different realm and sell there where they not only have better conditions, but also can buy local products reliably and thus, with a bit of planning, make a profit on their way back. When selling to the Citadel its always a gamble what is available and thanks to high prices thanks to import takes every good purchased there has a lower profit margin.Presumably they staff border posts, run hospitality venues, and provide financial services; and then provide the other services that any urban population needs. This is how some real-world urban economies work.</blockquote>

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