Economy of Consigahria
The frighteningly efficient powerhouse Consigahrian economy, worth over an unmatched 9,205 trillion ruices a year, is driven mostly by government activity. The extremely specialized industrial sector is mostly comprised of the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Furniture Restoration, Manufacturing, Tourism, and Cheese Exports. In January, 2137, the Consigahrian economy generated 78.07% of the entire gross regional domestic product, ranking among the top 0.5% of the world for economies and top 3% of the world for economic output.
As of April, 2216, average income is an amazing R$338,933, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning R$3,053,973 per year while the poor average R$4,635, a ratio of 658 to 1. The gross domestic product is R$647.537 trillion (NS$1.267 quadrillion), over 4% of the RGDP.
Contents
Taxation
Taxation differs in Consigahria than in most other democracies. Citizens pay property tax, income tax, sales tax, and corporate tax per paycheck. From 2120 throughout most of 2136, the wealthy paid more tax than the middle and lower classes. As of December 12th, 2136, all working class citizens pay the same flat tax rate.
Income tax is legally defined as a percentage of the amount of money earned by each employee which is kept in a bank paid to the federal government, or in other words the amount of money that employers are required to take from their employees' paychecks and pay to the federal government for public spending before paying each employee. Legally speaking, money is only regarded as spendable in this context only if stored within a wallet (or similar), safe (or similar), or a bank; and money which is stored lawfully within a private safe registered with the federal government cannot be taxed. It is unlawful to evade taxation; if you work, you must pay income tax. All working citizens are required to report their earnings to the government yearly; and fraud is easily detectable and punished severely. However, money that is stored unlawfully, such as money hidden in a mattress (embezzlement), or within an unregistered safe (concealment), can be taxed if not revoked altogether. In an operation called cleaning money, the federal government dumps all unlawfully stored money back into the nation's highly efficient black market. Property tax works the same way.
In February, 2148, the average income tax rate was 1.5-1.8%; as of January, 2150, the average income tax rate was 2.5-4%; as of June, 2196, the average income tax rate is 1.9%.
In February, 2200, citizens paid a flat income tax of 5.3%.
In April, 2200, citizens paid a flat income tax of 4.5%.
In September, 2210, citizens paid a flat income tax of 3.9%.
In December, 2212, citizens paid a flat income tax of 2.9%.
In April, 2216, citizens pay a flat income tax of 3.5%.
Trade
Foreign trade
In February, 2200, Consigahria imported NS$140 trillion worth of product and exported NS$162 trillion, generating a trade surplus of NS$21.886 trillion.
Consigahria exports firearms, bullets, firearm accessories, petroleum and petroleum products, film and film products and accessories, diamonds, various fruits and vegetables, gold- and diamond-encrusted furniture, wind turbines and accessories, horse carriages, bicycles, scooters, and more.
For those in the know, there is a highly efficient (and technically illegal) black market which the government chooses to ignore, mostly because it contributes to the GDP. About 2-63% of the black market contributes to the nation's export ratings annually.
Before its natural disasters in 2136, Consigahria was among the lead traders in the region; but after, it began to have a growing trade deficit. As of October, 2136, it had a trade deficit of NS$1.6 trillion per day. As a result, printing of paper money and creation of coins in Consigahrian currency was suspended.
No more than two months later, the nation recovered and began to export more and more. As of December, 2136, the nation carried a trade surplus of NS$9.28 trillion (R$4.87 trillion), a rise of over 1,491% from the previous year.
As of March 10th, 2137, however, Consigahria was succeeded as regional trade leader by Pixelpark; and the government stopped making regular monthly reports.
As of April 3, 2200, Consigahria had a trade surplus of NS$6,428 trillion, a new record.
As of April, 2216, Consigahria has a trade surplus of $2.14 trillion.
Domestic trade
Slave trade
In February, 2137, slave trade was legalized with provisions. At first, there was mass confusion in most of the nation. Anybody who is a certified citizen of Consigahria is ineligible to be a slave, and anybody who is of a noble family is also ineligible. It is specifically illegal to take or purchase a slave without that person's intent, whether it happens within Consigahria's borders or not, consequently ending in that slave's work for a citizen of Consigahria.
In late February, 2137, 58-year-old Hadassah Macy and his sons Braidy (age 17) and Justice (age 18) successfully incapacitated and detained 38-year-old Alim Kamal Abdulrashid and his 16-year-old daughter Ruba (Ruba Khadija Abdulrashid), placing them in the bay of a horse carriage trailer, hitched on the rear of a pick-up truck. Abdulrashid's 36-year-old wife Sahar (Sahar Ruya Abdulrashid) died trying to save them. After their abduction, Abdulrashid and daughter were taken to upscale Kent, Vermillion City, a mountainous high-class residential area.
Macy's family lived on a 3,200-acre property in a three-story seven-bedroom house. His wife Sarah remained unemployed all throughout their 32-year marriage, because Hadassah's entrepreneurship made enough money to afford the bills and much more. However, Braidy and Justice, subjected to homeschooling instead of mainstream public schooling for all of their lives, were going to college in Vermillion City soon, and in order to secure it, Hadassah had paid upwards of R$550,000 for each son's education in just a few months, half of his yearly salary. If his 17-year-old daughter is accepted into the same college, he will inevitably write another check for R$277,000; and less than a decade later, if his 15-year-old daughter Aureliana goes to the same college, he will write another exorbitantly-priced check; and the same in the case of his 12-year-old daughter Sylvianne. He will have paid in total an estimated R$1,385,100 for all the education of all of his children, a million-dollar expense on top of his normal living expenses. To supplement, he has two choices: hire slave labor to replace his family's cook and maintenance crews, or blindly begin black market trading.
From February to late March, 2137, Abdulrashid and daughter experienced inexplicable tortures, including sodomy, forced marriage, rape and insemination, and the castration of Abdulrashid himself. On March 20, 2137, to the horror of impregnated daughter Ruba, Alim Kamal Abdulrashid was shot and killed by Justice Macy for the attempted murder of Hadassah Macy. The police were called to the scene, and Ruba Abdulrashid was set free and taken to Vermillion Metropolitan Interregional Hospital, fortified after the previous natural incidents and terrorist attacks.
Justice Macy was tried for the murder of Abdulrashid, but was acquitted on the grounds that he was defending his father's life, who was badly beaten but lived to tell the violent tale. However, the Macy family was tried for illegal procurement of slaves, illegal facilitation of slave labor, and the murder of Sahar Ruya Abdulrashid, and were found guilty of all charges. Despite his argument that the decriminalization of slave ownership meant that his forcible taking of a slave was a legal act, for the capital felony of murder of an illegally procured slave, Justice Macy was sentenced to death by lethal injection. A Vermillion City Supreme Court reinforced the Prime Minister's previous ruling, that "it is specifically illegal to take or purchase a slave without that person's intent, whether it happens within Consigahria's borders or not, consequently ending in that slave's work for a citizen of Consigahria" (P.M. Davis-Hobbes XI, 12 March 2137). For the felony of illegal procurement of slaves and illegal facilitation of slave labor, Hadassah & Sarah Macy were each sentenced to 45 years of federal imprisonment with no chance for parole. For accessory to capital felony, Braidy Macy was sentenced to lifetime federal imprisonment with possibility for parole after 25 years. Ruba, Aureliana, and Sylvianne were ordered into the custody of the state.
Slave trade is subject to heavy regulation in Consigahria. Common law crimes still apply with slaves--in Consigahria, a slave is still a legal citizen and is entitled to all the rights of a legal citizen, except for the fact that he is contractually bound to work as a slave on a plantation for a certain salary, which is usually minimum wage. Slaves are taxed much less than regular citizens.
There are over 8 billion slaves in Consigahria.
Goods and resources
Under construction.
Drugs and alcohol
Recreational drug use is not a inherently a criminal act in Consigahria; however there are laws governing how a person treats his own body or the body of another person, and there are laws regulating trade of some drugs. In Consigahria, people felonies (felonies which affect people, such as theft, murder, manslaughter, etc.) are specifically illegal at the federal level. This means you could be charged with manslaughter and other drug charges if you sell scopolamine or alcohol to somebody and they overdose and die. However, generally, there seems to be an absence of laws governing drug use, except where sale from state to population is concerned. The government sells some drugs to help with drug addiction--for example, cannabis and liquid methadone are sold by government clinics to rebut addiction to meth.
In Consigahria, the drug black market is alive, well, and booming. As a socialist and democratic domestic policy, the black market is allowed to run rampant. In most cases of medical treatment of drug addiction, clinic patients must sign a waiver and a contract stipulating they will continue to seek treatment, or forfeit their right to seek treatment altogether for no less than a year. Only because it's necessary, a small handful of Consigahrian federal intelligence agencies keep tabs on those who are addicted to a drug and seeking treatment.
Cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol are specifically unregulated. The nation makes about NS$56 quadrillion a year, R$101 quadrillion in profit from cannabis sales annually. However, cannabis doesn't seem to be very addictive, although dependencies can be formed. In cases of dependency on cannabis, though it's not mandatory like treatment of other drugs is, psychotherapy is often employed. In cases where cannabis treats chronic pain, anxiety, or depression, doctors tend to prescribe stronger cannabis grown by the government.
Tobacco is a specifically unregulated drug, as is alcohol. However, being that territories and municipalities have their own local governments, tobacco (as well as tobacco products and paraphernalia) and alcohol are illegal to be purchased by or sold to a minor. The age of consent law isn't very clearly defined, however it's generally accepted in most of the nation that a minor is anybody under the age of 18 for tobacco sales, and 21 for alcohol sales. However, some exceptions exist, as defined in the Drugs and Alcohol section of the Federal Body.
Other drugs are potentially more criminal.
PCP is also sold in small quantities by clinics, whose employees try to slowly wean users off the drug.
Heroin, however, is treated differently than PCP; heroin addiction is rebutted with sales of other opioids.
Rohypnol is rebutted with sales of medication, psychological counseling, group counseling, and participation in outpatient group therapy programs. As with treatment of dependency on other drugs, there are several government-level and state-level welfare programs which help the economically underprivileged to get the help they need.
Amphetamines (for example, dextroamphetamine – a medication used in the treatment of ADHD that is also sometimes used to treat narcolepsy; levoamphetamine – a psychostimulant known to increase wakefulness and focus; lisdexamfetamine – used in treatment of ADHD; methamphetamine - used in treatment of ADHD and obesity; Adderall) are a real problem in ghettos across the nation. If you live in Consigahria, your doctor may prescribe methylphenidate if you have severe intravenous amphetamine dependence. Fluoxetine may decrease your cravings. Imipramine may help you stick with your treatment for amphetamine dependence. Your doctor may prescribe other medications to help relieve symptoms of anxiety, depression, and aggression. However, a prescription isn't necessary in Consigahria to obtain a drug that isn't necessarily over-the-counter.
Hallucinogens, such as magic mushrooms and peyote, are also a problem, although most problematic cases involve the more dangerous drugs, such as a medication used to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting called scopolamine, Consigahria's most dangerous and most potent drug. Hallucinogen addiction treatment in Consigahria is different from most other drugs that are addictive. The basic hallucinogen treatment is to care for the person and help keep them calm and stress free. This is because there are no pharmacological treatments that help with a hallucinogen dependency. Sometimes, the treatment includes seclusion for mental health purposes, especially in cases of addiction to scopolamine.
Cocaine is the third most-popular recreational drug in Consigahria. There are many different types of cocaine addiction treatment. The most common methods of treatment include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Behavioral Therapy; Motivational Therapy; Rewards Therapy; Support Groups; Individual Counseling; Family Counseling; and Group Counseling. Each of these are a program, a subsidy of a welfare program for mental health. Cocaine is the number-one cause of marital violence in Consigahria, and the third leading cause for marital murder.
Ecstasy, however, is not a common drug for primary addiction. There is no specific treatment; rather, general methods of treating addictive behavior are the rule. The first step (along with abstinence) is to identify the reasons for taking the drug and see how those problems can be addressed in other, more healthy ways.
As of the year 2148, Consigahria is among the top 7% of world nations for the most drug use; the drug and alcohol black market generates more than NS$500.5 trillion (over R$250 trillion) annually.
