[SPOILERS] Now that the war is over . . .

and the junctions are fully open. . .



What is the face of business in the galaxy? Will lawsuits against the Manticoran government begin to pour in from all over the galaxy? Is Manticore liable for lost property and wages due to the spoils of war?

Will the jockeying for open markets take on the appearance of a gold rush?

Will Manticore raise junction fees to offset lost revenue and to help rebuild its infrastructure?

Will a mad dash to court the suddenly open markets due to the recent events in the League cause Superpowers to bump heads?

Manticore simply has to raise junction fees. The MWJ is a built-in tax system.

Presumably, Manticore can finance rebuilding by drawing down their fleet. Since they don't have idiots in charge, they can be confident that they won't go back to war.

cthia wrote:and the junctions are fully open. . .



What is the face of business in the galaxy? Will lawsuits against the Manticoran government begin to pour in from all over the galaxy? Is Manticore liable for lost property and wages due to the spoils of war?

Will the jockeying for open markets take on the appearance of a gold rush?

Will Manticore raise junction fees to offset lost revenue and to help rebuild its infrastructure?

Will a mad dash to court the suddenly open markets due to the recent events in the League cause Superpowers to bump heads?

Unlikely, they'll be able to sue and SEM isn't responsible for lost wages and property. Especially once war was declared.

noblehunter wrote:Presumably, Manticore can finance rebuilding by drawing down their fleet. Since they don't have idiots in charge, they can be confident that they won't go back to war.

Noblehunter, you're not going to believe this, but the following post was prepared before I read yours. Your post is interesting and timely because it shows the varying views of different mindsets - which may help account for the High Ridge government's intransigence against Beth and funding her navy. Your post really goes to show that people see things differently. I rather thought that the navy was already built down because of Oyster Bay. And that it needed to build it back up to at least nominal numbers. Especially with the unknown threat of the MAlign hanging over its head. The unaltered post. . .

OMG! I'm suddenly hit with a debilitating case of déjà vu. Where once upon a time a certain cretin living high up on a ridge saw an opportunity to divert some of the immense necessary funds that should have been used to maintain the RMN$ war fighting edge, towards his own ends. This isn't the time to decrease military spending, but in peace time it is often impossible to convince certain appendages of the government to continue lending a hand.

noblehunter wrote:Presumably, Manticore can finance rebuilding by drawing down their fleet. Since they don't have idiots in charge, they can be confident that they won't go back to war.

A peace dividend... how did that work out before?

Not as confident as you that there would be no more wars thus no need for a reduced fleet. Of course his nibs may proved everyone wrong when and if he writes more in this series.

Senior Chief wrote:A peace dividend... how did that work out before?

Not as confident as you that there would be no more wars thus no need for a reduced fleet. Of course his nibs may proved everyone wrong when and if he writes more in this series.

I think we can assume they're not going back to war with the League in the next few years. And that the governments aren't going to be as stupid as the High Ridge government.

I think the GA is going to be focused on putting all of its pieces together.

The SL creating a functioning government.

ywing14 wrote:I think the GA is going to be focused on putting all of its pieces together.

The SL creating a functioning government.

Isn't that going to consist of some spending on Manticore's part? Right now the Havenite's are probably footing an inordinate amount of the bill, seeing as though Bolthole is hosting the lion's share of the building and R&D. Dunno if their costs are being defrayed by the Manties, or simply an IOU has been issued. At any rate, the Manties may have to take care of a ballooning payment. They wouldn't want hostilities to rekindle because of an outstanding note. Eloise doesn't govern in a vacuum, she has a Republic to answer to.

Besides, if Manticore fails to ante up now that it can begin to stand on its own two feet, wouldn't that make them guilty of the same thing most allies do - leave the spending to the suckers. America knows about that intimately. Our allies don't even use KY jelly. Too cheap to even buy that as well.

cthia wrote:

ywing14 wrote:I think the GA is going to be focused on putting all of its pieces together.

The SL creating a functioning government.

Isn't that going to consist of some spending on Manticore's part? Right now the Havenite's are probably footing an inordinate amount of the bill, seeing as though Bolthole is hosting the lion's share of the building and R&D. Dunno if their costs are being defrayed by the Manties, or simply an IOU has been issued. At any rate, the Manties may have to take care of a ballooning payment. They wouldn't want hostilities to rekindle because of an outstanding note. Eloise doesn't govern in a vacuum, she has a Republic to answer to.

Besides, if Manticore fails to ante up now that it can begin to stand on its own two feet, wouldn't that make them guilty of the same thing most allies do - leave the spending to the suckers. America knows about that intimately. Our allies don't even use KY jelly. Too cheap to even buy that as well.

I would say it's unlikely the RoH is footing a disproportionate part of the bill. If they are paying more in gross terms it's because they're larger than the SEM. But as a percentage of their GDP I'd say they're probably both equal. That doesn't even count all the access they are getting to SEM Tech and Markets now. I'm not sure they could put a price tag on that. Bolthole may be building those things, but the SEM is paying for its ships being built there and providing access to things like Apollo and other tech. If anything RoH is likely making money because it is the primary industrial center now.

Most of the actual issues were settled when they formed the alliance. Payment would have been one of the things they discussed. There is no indication in any of the books that the RoH is paying or doing more than any others. Frankly it hasn't been their civilians doing the dying either.