Transformer economics

2012-08-21T03:00:20Z

74.90.80.14:

Economics is the management, distribution, and consumption of resources. You would think that [[Transformer|Transformers]] would have other things to worry about (such as the [[Cybertronian Civil Wars|unending warfare]]) but as they say, the [[energon]] must flow.

==Fiction==
===Generation 1===
====Marvel Comics continuity====
{{note|Events from the UK-only comics are in italics.}}
[[Image:Marvel52 concentratedenergoncubes.jpg|right|100px|thumb|]]
[[Landmine (G1)|Landmine]] and [[Cloudburst]] use concentrated [[Energon cube|energon cubes]] to purchase parts for the [[Autobot|Autobots]]. They are a "universally accepted currency." {{storylink|Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?}}

''By the year 2007, the [[Shanix]] was a currency used by Transformers and other life-forms. While the exact relative value of the Shanix is unknown, [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]] thought that it was worth the effort when [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] offered 10000 of them for the capture of [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]].'' {{storylink|Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!}}

{{note|It was also unclear if Cybertronians traded in Shanix between themselves, or only when dealing with other cultures.}}

====Generation 1 cartoon====
Millions of years ago, the Transformers themselves began their existence as goods and services created by the [[Quintesson|Quintessons]], in what would be described as "market capitalism" (usually with an aggressive attitude). However, the Transformers got fed up with slavery and rebelled. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}}

Here, the [[Autobot|Autobots]] appeared mostly unconcerned with economic matters, what with the war and all. However, the [[Decepticon|Decepticons]] appeared to engage in what one might call "capitalism" (after all, it's what God wanted in the 1980s). [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] in particular engaged in business deals all the time. In one of his more infamous deals, he sold his fellow [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] to [[El Presidente|a human arms dealer]]. What exactly the arms dealer paid Swindle is unknown. {{storylink|B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.}}

[[Quintesson|Quintessons]] also appear to have capitalistic tendencies, as illustrated by the fact that they sell weapons to both sides in an interplanetary war. {{storylink|The Quintesson Journal}}

[[Galactic Credits]] were a type of currency used by space travelers, but it's unknown if the Transformers made use of it. {{storylink|Money Is Everything}}

====Dreamwave continuity====
Before the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], the Autobot [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] mentioned that he was once a Cybertronian merchant. {{storylink|The War Within issue 1|The War Within #1}} Additionally, the [[Neutral Territories]] were formed out of a former free trading zone. {{storylink|Revelation (The Dark Ages)|Revelation}} These statements seem to indicate that pre-war [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] was something along the lines of a barter/trade economy.

====IDW comics====
Pre-war Cybertron would also qualify as capitalist, with stock markets, investments, and a wealthy, corrupt [[Senate]] with its hands into most of the financial dealings. However, Cybertron was also a class-based society with a large underclass working for the small, wealthy elite. Yeah, that's not going to end badly. {{storylink|The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin}}

Transformers occasionally used Shanix as currency among themselves. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

Many of the neutral Transformers who left Cybertron during the war ended up using their own unique currencies wherever they settled down, including Shanix, [[Cassanian quadrocheque]]s, [[Betelgusian sputtle-prog]]s and a simple bartering system. This caused problems when they all came home and had to settle the conversion rates. {{storylink|Stick Together}}

===Beast Era===
====''Beast Wars Neo'' manga====
[[Magmatron]] offered [[Archadis]] a bounty of 1,000,000 [[gold]] for each maximal he could destroy on the planet [[Greengard]]. {{storylink|Mortal Combat! Twenty Thousand Meters in the Sky}}

===''Animated'' cartoon===
While there is very little evidence of a unified Cybertronian currency, individuals such as [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] appear more than willing to indulge their mercenary tendencies in exchange for systems upgrades and new technologies. Such rampant greed has been known to disgust [[Ratchet (Animated)|some Autobots]]. {{storylink|The Thrill of the Hunt}}

[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] happily traded technology with species all across the galaxy, and was known to use Shanix. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}}

{{note|The episode title "[[A Fistful of Energon]]", parodying the Western movie "A Fistful of Dollars", suggests energon is employed as a currency in this universe, though nothing that occurs in-universe addresses this use.}}

Note: Transformers fiction rarely discusses economic effects of unending warfare across Cybertron and the galaxy. A realistic explanation for constant energon shortages and a dying population is because resources have not been allocated properly. Warfare has lead to increased and constant central planning on both parties, which is usually not the way to go to raise standards of living. The effect is that while cybertronian weapons and transports may be kept up to date, resources are not correctly used for other important things such as energy and sustainability. The Autobots and Decepticons do not appear to use market mechanisms that achieve full growth. This could explain why for eons, their cities, infrastructures and non-war goods and services have stagnated, and lack of alternative sources of energy as opposed to energon. ( And beating the slag out of each other.)
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