Transformer economics

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

Fiction

Generation 1

Marvel Comics continuity

Events from the UK-only comics are in italics.

Landmine and Cloudburst use concentrated energon cubes to purchase parts for the Autobots. They are a "universally accepted currency." 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 thought that it was worth the effort when Rodimus Prime offered 10000 of them for the capture of Galvatron. Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!

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

The Transformers cartoon

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

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

Quintessons also appear to have capitalistic tendencies, as illustrated by the fact that they sell weapons to both sides in an interplanetary war. 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. Money Is Everything

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Before the Great War, the Autobot Bluestreak mentioned that he was once a Cybertronian merchant. The War Within #1 Additionally, the Neutral Territories were formed out of a former free trading zone. Revelation These statements seem to indicate that pre-war Cybertron was something along the lines of a barter/trade economy.

IDW Generation 1 continuity

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. Megatron Origin

Transformers occasionally used Shanix as currency among themselves. 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 quadrocheques, Betelgusian sputtle-progs and a simple bartering system. This caused problems when they all came home and had to settle the conversion rates. 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. 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 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 some Autobots. The Thrill of the Hunt

Swindle happily traded technology with species all across the galaxy, and was known to use Shanix. The AllSpark Almanac II

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.