The etymology behind the usage of the term Zeit in the SMP Compendium originates from the German word for “Time.” Zeit refers to the tertiary unit of measurement in gauging the economic and financial activities of the nation-state. It is meant to operate alongside the primary and second units of measurements employed by the Work-Standard, Arbeit and Geld respectively. With Zeit, the State is able to study the rate at which its economy is capable of contributing a specified amount of Arbeit to the Central Bank’s Life-Energy Reserve, and the rate at which the Central Bank is able to convert that Arbeit in Geld as part of the nation-state’s Financial Regime.
Additionally, Zeit is used to study specific professions or sectors within the economy and their contributions. Not everyone works at the same timeframe. Some people work shorter hours and others may work longer hours. It can be due to personal considerations like family, schooling or health, the details surrounding the profession in question, or even the impact of non-monetary policies by the State and the Technology that is employed by certain Economic Sectors. The real implication that Zeit dares to ask is what can be done under a given timeframe and whether something can be achieved on schedule, ahead of schedule, or behind schedule.
Zeit is also employed as the means of making future projections concerning the conversions between Arbeit and Geld. By studying past trends and practices within the economy, the State can begin making conclusions on whether certain policies will affect the balance between Arbeit and Geld as part of its monetary policies. Another aspect of this particular usage of Zeit is the Central Bank’s decision-making process in setting the Mechanization Rate as the Work-Standard’s Usury-free alternative to the need for maintaining Interest Rates. The Central Bank, based on what has occurred in the past, can plan for the future by setting the “Mechanization Rate” at a specified point in Zeit. The Mechanization Rate can be altered and manipulated by the Central Bank at the formal discretion of the other two members of the Financial Regime.
Under no circumstances whatsoever will Zeit ever be used as something to back the Value of any Currency pegged to the Work-Standard. Where Zeit does present itself as a contributing factor in the relationship between Arbeit and Geld is the State policy on the number of mandatory hours for all work-weeks. The total number of hours in the work-week will affect the amount of Arbeit that can be allocated to the Life-Energy Reserve. Hours that do not contribute any Arbeit is “Freizeit” (Free Time). Having a 40-hour work week is considered to be within the normal bounds. A 35-hour work week is feasible by increasing the Mechanization Rate to enhance the amount of Arbeit that each profession within a given economic sector is capable of contributing.
Longer work-weeks that go from 48 to 56 hours should be considered as being within the bounds of national emergencies and wartime contingencies. Hostile invasions from enemy forces and devastating natural disasters are two good examples for why a work-week would last that long.
Any Arbeit generated from “Überstunden” (Additional Hours or ‘Overtime’), which is to say that someone was asked to work beyond their normal hours, is compensated in Geld by the Council State. The State reserves the political power necessary to set the total number of hours in the work-week, the amount dependent on all economic conditions in the Socialist Nation. Provided that the Socialist Nation is not under circumstances where it must spend longer hours at the workspace for every work-week, the minimum number of hours will be set at 35 hours, the maximum number of hours at 56 hours. Either way, beware of the Attrition/Inaction Rate. Any alterations to the work-week will certainly affect extents to which the Sociable Currency depreciates or appreciates under any given set of circumstances.
Categories: Compendium
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