Several SMP Compendium entries have been written to elaborate on the Work-Standard’s specifications, capabilities and interactions with everyday political, economic and social life. Others describe the details of the interfaces between fiscal and monetary policies when the Currency has been pegged to the Work-Standard. Together with the details on the Kontore and State Commissariats, a proposal of financial instruments under the Work-Standard is in order.

True to its name, a Kontor is a “Finance Office.” Let that name define the everyday happenings of what goes on within the walls of a tall, multi-story building at the city center of a downtown area. Unlike the chaos and panic of a financial market, the Kontor is to uphold financial authority, fiscal discipline, duty, honor and order on behalf of the Financial Regime. This is the only institution in the Socialist nation-state that is legally permitted by the State to issue NSFIs (National-Socialized Financial Instruments).      

NSFIs at the Kontore function differently from their Liberal Capitalist counterparts at the financial markets. They operate according to the interplay between Arbeit and Geld. Certain NSFIs are designed to act as reserves of Arbeit and Geld that can be mobilized by the State and Totality whenever a massive injection of Arbeit and Geld are needed. Kontore are also authorized to sell the raw materials harvested from natural resources as an “Equipmentality” with specific Reference and Relevance in mind. They can facilitate transactions pertaining to the conversion of the nation’s Currency into that of another Currency.

The largest NSEs at the Kontore are going to be NSBs (National-Socialized Banks) issuing larger Work-Tenures to cover the creation of new Vocations among enterprises. They can also facilitate the entry of foreign enterprises from nation-states also operating under the Work-Standard. Any foreign enterprise that wishes to establish branches in the Socialist nation-state will be dealing with the economic planners assigned to the Kontor of a major city or metropolitan area.

And as with “labor strikes” and “lockouts” within the workspace and the one-sided negotiations for higher wages within the State Commissariat, “asset speculation” is forbidden in the Socialist nation-state. Speculation is a commercial device hostile to the State and potentially harmful to the Totality. Anyone who feels a genuine need to seek a Transvaluation of all Arbeit, including the Prices of certain goods and services, will be asked to report to their local state commissars at the State Commissariat of a major city in their area.  

Unlike the seven specific financial markets under Liberal Capitalism, each Kontor has eight Offices. One Office leads the other seven, each one engaging in a specific NSFI on behalf of the State. Those seven NSFIs are “Fiefs,” “Work-Plans,” “Equipmentalities,” “Currency Conversion,” “Work-Tenure Allocation,” “Priority Requisition,” and “Economic Foreignization.” Again, all seven rely entirely on the interplay of Arbeit and Geld. Any incurring of Schuld from the Financial Regime is reserved only for those who fail to do what was expected of them in any transaction. 

• ‘Office I’ deals with Fiefs, the investments of Life-Energy into the Arbeit of an enterprise by vocational civil servants. Someone’s involvement here has the potential convince the State Council that this person and everyone else deserves a larger Paygrade next week. They replace the need for stock markets and labor markets, low-paying temporary work and independent contracting of the gig-economy and deliver some much-needed respect to those doing menial tasks. These include and are never limited to delivering everyday mail and goods ordered from eCommerce websites, flipping burgers behind the grill, taking orders at a restaurant waiter, hospitality and catering, manning the receptionist desk at office buildings and those other ‘boring’ assignments that most people tend to look down on under Liberal Capitalism. By swearing fealty to the State in undying devotion to serve the Totality, investors will be given the assurance their Arbeit is appreciated and will be kindly compensated with a Stipend of Geld and a dormitory with time for socializing with others. Special medals and promotions will be awarded by the State based on overall performance.  If Fiefs are intended to overcome the problems of what Friedrich Engels called a “Reserve Army of Employees,” a Four-Year or Five-Year Work-Plan addresses the “Reserve Army of Employers.” PDEs, POEs, and NSEs in the next Office, ‘Office II’.
• Work-Plans are assignments related to one’s Vocation as part of climbing the Ranks and for those willing to demonstrate industriousness and ambitiousness within challenging tasks. The State and large enterprises (NSEs, SOEs and SAEs) are permitted under the Work-Standard to have ‘Office II’ issue Work-Plans, allowing anyone to undertake specific operations or long-term missions. A Work-Plan may last twelve months, two years, four years, five years or even ten years. It depends on the nature of the mission and what is expected of the one who accepts the terms of the Work-Plan. Those who complete the Work-Plan without abandoning grants a high Quality of Arbeit to the Life-Energy Reserve, fueling economic growth and furthering one’s Vocation. As with Fiefs, special medals and promotions will be awarded by the State as part of their Vocation.
• Equipmentalities refer to raw materials created from natural resources and can be purchased in bulk by enterprises in the production of goods and services. ‘Office III’ is split into two Groups. Group A is involved with Vocations tasked with harvesting those same natural resources, converting them into raw materials. The rest are with the Vocations of Group B, overseeing procurement of Equipmentality for the production of actual goods and services. Special arrangements can be made to allow for the transportation of strategic resources to enterprises that will be needing them. Deliveries are to be carried by regional and then local delivery units.
• ‘Office IV’ is Currency Conversion, overseeing exchanges into other currencies. Depending on Work-Standard’s influence beyond the Socialist nation-state’s borders, it may be possible for FECs (Foreign Exchange Certificates) to be issued. Alternatively, in a Socialist world order, an entirely different Currency–an actual World Reserve Currency pegged to the currencies of five of the strongest economies–may also be issued. Those concerned about the influence of Cryptocurrencies will be reassured that this is also the same place for matters related to the Work-Standard within the digital realm. This includes the automated processing of transactions into different currencies and the tracking of their movements across international borders.  
• Work-Tenures represent the loans offered by banks acting as Lenders for potential Borrowers. Work-Tenure Allocations, however, refer to the large-scale movements of Geld intended for the banks. ‘Office V’ acts as the eyes and ears of the Central Bank, operating in close communications with the banks, just as the banks themselves are in contact with their local branches. Its investors are also in direct communications with economic planners and accountants, as well as State functionaries responsible for wiring of Paygrades within various accounts at different banks. The “Lender of Last Resort” is the State as part of the Socialist Financial Regime.
• Priority Requisition deals with the processing of transactions related to the logistics of Equipment by their Reference and Relevance. ‘Office VI’ is split into four Groups. Group A deals with those involved in the R&D projects of SAEs and SOEs, while Group B concerns the NSEs working on behalf of the State on technical patents and design documents. Group C oversees the affairs of those involved in mass communications applications, artists, video game developers, filmmakers, musicians, online personalities, university researchers and scholars, clergy and religious, intellectuals and philosophers. Group D, meanwhile, has the challenge of collaborating with inspectors, economic planners, and accountants overseeing the transfers of Arbeit, Geld, and Equipment across international borders. What distinguishes Group D from the rest of ‘Office VI’ and everyone in ‘Office VII’ (“Economic Foreignization”) is the nature of their activities: investors here are deeply involved in the logistical affairs of key governmental departments and ministries, the armed forces, intelligence agents, police forces, and the SSE (Socialist School Economy) of the national educational system. The military still needs the civilians to ensure the inconspicuous movement of supplies, just as the teenage students of the SSE need Equipment for their activities.
• Economic Foreignization refers to expansions of the Work-Standard beyond the nation-state by domestic enterprises operating abroad and foreign enterprises that the State allowed to operate within the Socialist nation-state. Investors at ‘Office VII’ must be bilingual, be familiar with other cultures and demonstrate a willingness to work alongside foreigners within the Office’s two Groups. Group A coordinates the domestic enterprises in their overseas operations within other countries, whereas Group B follow similar set of parameters with foreigners in the Socialist nation-state itself. Members of the former are sent with the diplomatic consulate of the nation’s embassies in the capitals of other nations.    
• In command of all seven Offices is ‘Office VIII’, the Administrative Faculty. Investors here are the same administrators who are sending inspectors to specific industries and economic sectors of the Socialist nation-state. Their subordinates will be working alongside the economic planners and their retinue of accountants as well as the state commissars at the State Commissariats.  A Kontor replaces all the functions of financial markets under Liberal Capitalism, eliminating the need for financial markets and their financial instruments. The Kontore facilitate the Work-Standard within the economic affairs of the nation and their activities abroad.   

Together with variables “State Revenues,” “State Expenses,” “Real Total Economic Potential” (RTEP), “Real Total Financial Potential (RTFP), “Total Economic Socialization Rate” (TXR), and “Net Foreignization Rate” (NOR), it is finally feasible to complete the last equation employed by the Work-Standard: the “Total Productive Potential” (TPP). TPP becomes the true metric that the Central Bank relies on to determine how much Geld it needs to be printing. Going over the value of the TPP will cause Schuld to accumulate, especially when the State runs a budgetary deficit.   

However, the SMP Compendium entry “How Arbeit is Converted into Geld” insisted that the amount of Geld in circulation as RTFP was limited by RTEP. The presence of TPP would supposedly contradict the conclusions reached there until one recalls the later mentioning of the Central Bank creating Schuld at a certain point. Recall what was originally written in that entry:

It is because of the need to factor how QW and RTEP affect the QM that the Central Bank must find the “Total Financial Potential” (TFP). A TFP is the sum of all Geld that has already been converted from Arbeit before including the Attrition/Inaction Rate. If the Central Bank needs to know the TFP with the Attrition/Inaction Rate, they will use the “Real Total Financial Potential” (RTFP).  RTFP is the final sum of all Geld in circulation and is limited by the RTEP. Remember that the Attrition/Inaction Rate is not affected by the RTFP but by the RTEP because of the nature of the Work-Standard. If the Central Bank needs to print more Geld, the RTEP will need to be gradually increased to facilitate it.

What happens if the Central Bank decides to print more Geld to increase the RTFP without any expected increases in RTEP? That Geld is counted as Schuld and is thus added to the Sovereign Schuld of the nation-state as “unpaid debts.” This is done to discourage excessive creations of Geld and deter the existence of Schuld-backed Kapital under the Work-Standard. As a Constitutional Obligation with a corresponding Constitutional Intent, any Sovereign Schuld must be paid back without any Interest whatsoever under the Work-Standard.

TPP does not contradict what had already been discussed in that entry and among several related ones. Arbeit from the VCS Economy and the State are still contributing to the TEP, just as the Geld from both are contributing to TFP. TEP and TFP still became RTEP and RTFP respectively once the Attrition/Inaction Rate was factored. The State itself still received its Revenue, paid all Expenses and expects to have a Budget left over for next week. And the nation-state still got its contributions from engaging in international trade and allowing foreign enterprises to operate within its borders. Combining the State Revenues and Expenses, RTEP and RTFP, TXR and NOR into one equation for the Central Bank yields the TPP.

What is in fact unaccounted for, as the topic of another Compendium entry, includes the Arbeit and Geld from the NSFIs, the State Commissariats, the Kontore, and the Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System itself. In essence, the interplay of Arbeit and Geld by those with anything to do with financial practices. Only when they and everything else in the Socialist nation-state are all taken into consideration will the Central Bank finally know the TPP. Only then can the Central Bank determine how much Geld will be printed without the State and Totality accumulating Schuld from budgetary deficits by having more Geld than what their Arbeit can sustain.

Categories: Compendium

Tags: Compendium, Economics, Finance, Kontore, NSFIs, Philosophy, Psychology, SMP, Socialist Finance, State Commissariats, TPP, Work-Standard