After conducting preliminary evaluations and drafting the organizational structure within the legislative framework of a Socialist nation-state, conclusions have finally been made regarding the viability of the Work-Standard presenting alternatives to Financial Markets. This entry is a continuation of its preceding entry as well as clarification for another, “Exchange Rates and the Impossible Trinity.”
In the first part of this entry, a conclusion was made that the Work-Standard could overcome the need to maintain Financial Markets by being capable of introducing a viable equivalent. Advocacy of an equivalent was feasible due to the Financial Markets themselves operating predominantly on a dialectic of Lending Credits/Borrowing Debits.” Most variants of Financial Markets embody characteristics of that dialectic. Thus, the feasibility of any alternative will need to avoid relying on the dialectic by having its own dialectic resemble the characteristics of the Work-Standard.
And in the other entry, it was stated that the Work-Standard is capable of overcoming the inherent limitations of the Impossible Trinity. To summarize the topic, the Impossible Trinity is a Liberal Capitalist argument that claims it is impossible for a Currency to maintain a stable Value, have its Exchange Rates controlled by the Financial Régime of a nation-state, and can move freely across international borders. The Work-Standard in particular is capable of moving freely while simultaneously having restrictions in place. This is possible because a Currency pegged to the Work-Standard can be transferred across borders at State approved financial institutions. Where the restrictions become apparent is in regards to the movement of people, which can be adjusted by various natalist, immigration, technical, educational, trade and social policies.
Both entries have stressed the need for a financial institution capable of helping the State set the Prices of goods and services, resolve disputes among workers and industries, gauge the overall health of the Vocational Civil Service Economy, and introduce a new breed of financial instruments designed to also implement a new distinct type of economic planning. The result of these endeavors has led to the articulation of two distinct financial institutions, the “Kontore” (Financial Offices) and State Commissariats, the Work-Standard’s alternative to Financial Markets.
The term “Kontor” originates from the trading posts historically associated with the Hanseatic League or ‘Hansa’. The original Kontore facilitated international trade between member-states affiliated with Hansa, which was in many respects a military and economic pact comparable to the Eastern Bloc’s CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) and Warsaw Pact. Those two Soviet-era institutions are appropriate analogies for understanding Hansa because the Hanseatic League was neither a nation-state nor a confederation of nation-states. Rather, it was an alliance of small German states united under the Holy Roman Emperor of the First Reich. Their semi-autonomous nature, as evidenced by their activities from London to Novgorod, is highly suggestive of the fact that while they governed themselves within their transactions, they were still subordinate to the legal jurisprudence of their hosts.
The ‘Kontore’ intended to operate under the Work-Standard is designed specifically to facilitate the Synchronicity between the State’s fiscal and monetary policies and the national economic and financial structures. By achieving this arrangement, a Vocational Civil Service Economy is capable of enhancing the benefits of the Planned or Command Economy while at the same time mitigate the inherent flaws as well. Thus, rather than the Lending/Borrowing of Kapital and Schuld, each ‘Kontor’ relies on the dialectic of “Sending/Receiving” of Arbeit and Geld. In the most fundamental form of their dialectics, somebody ‘sends’ their Arbeit to the State as part of pursuing their Vocations as civil servants and they in turn ‘receive’ Geld from the State.
All Kontore are responsible for the issuance of special economic plans called “National-Socialized Financial Instruments” (NSFIs) designed to function like the older Four-Year and Five-Year Plans of STEP (Soviet-Type Economic Planning) and PTEP (Prussian-Type Economic Planning). All NSFIs employ some variation of the Sending/Receiving of Arbeit and Geld, which is what separates them from the LCFIs (Liberal Capitalist Financial Instruments) commonly associated with Financial Markets. The goal of relying on NSFIs as an economic plan in its own right is to provide the flexibility and versatility that is lacking in Four-Year and Five-Year Plans. A further study into the details of NSFIs will require a subsequent entry.
Serving alongside the Kontore are the “State Commissariats of Wages and Prices.” The Commissariats, as their name implies, are responsible for helping the State determine the proper rates for the Paygrades of the nation-state and the Prices of goods and services. These institutions operate at the regional level and they are tasked with striking the right balance between the accessibility and the affordability of those same goods and services. They additionally share the secondary task of overseeing the disputes among workers and industries, processing those disputes and settling them at a special judiciary with the honors of resolving them.
As for the Paygrades themselves, it has been stated that they are designed to be for everyone at the household level, the amount affected by years of service and number of dependents such as underage children, students, elderly, and disabled. However, the amount of Geld in a single Paygrade is also affected by another factor where the State Commissariats are tasked with. Besides years of service and number of dependents, Paygrades can be affected by the ranks of all citizens employed as economic civil servants. The Vocational Civil Service Economy employs a special ranking system that functions as a service record where the performance of everyone is evaluated by the State and any merits are duly awarded as they become recognized by the State. Those who contribute more of their Arbeit and helped others play their parts may be eligible by the State to gain a higher rank that may be entitled to a higher Paygrade in Geld.
Granted, it should be noted that higher ranks do not necessarily mean more Geld. Higher ranks may mean eligibility for promotions up the hierarchical command structure within a recipient’s Vocation. It can imply eligibility for certain awards, decorations and medals. And it can even be the chance to earn special rewards and political appointments for those interested in delegating on behalf of their peers and subordinates at the Chambers and Councils of their nation-state.
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