Comments on: Spice and Wolf and economic fallacies

By: virsale

virsale — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:28:11 +0000

Interesting blog, i have bookmarked it for future referrence

By: DiscoDog

DiscoDog — Sun, 25 May 2008 03:06:34 +0000

dudes the furs they sold were martin its almost like a type of weasel and i’m pretty sure there gonna make a second season of spice and wolf i mean really horo hasn’t made it back to yoitsu yet and lawrence hasn’t made his shop(i’m guessing hes gonna make it in yoitsu) and whats her name… nora hasn’t put up her tayloring shop yet

By: v4lkyr3

v4lkyr3 — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:16:23 +0000

ItAintEazy gave a brief explanation as to why the devaluation benefits the moneychanger. However it is forgotten to be explained that the one who benefitted the most is the country (the king) that devalued the currency.

By devaluing the currency as being explained in the anime, the country will have more money (silver) in the circulation of the market. The scheme is impossible in current modern technology world with the existence of online currency exchange and all. However in medieval era with information disparity between normal trader and money changers, it becomes possible.

In short term both the country and money changer will earn money from devalued currency. There are several possible outcomes that comes in future (beyond what is being explained in the anime).

One, the currency will lose the trust earned and devalued further until it practically becomes worthless (even keeping the silver content equal) and thus becomes the end of the country. During such case, the country may choose to adopt more reliable currency while letting its original currency disappear (almost like Euro currency just that they have no problem) to continue trading back again.

Another possibility that is likely is that after the devaluation of the currency everything will remain the same as the silver content is the main issue here and will not have any long term effect other than the currency that is devalued causing the country’s imported goods prices to inflate.

End of explanation that is necessary (the rest are too long and complicated to explain).

Hope this enlighten some possibilities that left unanswered.

By: Demon

Demon — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 07:18:44 +0000

……….There’s a girl with wolf ears and tail who has lived longer then humans and the thing you guys think is off is the economics? I think you all need to sort out your priorities. lol Great show and manga by the way.

By: Pyrrhusonline

Pyrrhusonline — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:03:47 +0000

@Shirukii: Himitsu.

By: Siva

Siva — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:09:33 +0000

LOL this is the way merchant should be. If you are playing/living in a MMORPG’s world you should understand this kind of thing.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:48:34 +0000

@ItAintEazy

Actually it’s something quite different, but you’ll just have to wait and see ;)

By: ItAintEazy

ItAintEazy — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:48:35 +0000

It’s quite simple, Alias. Someone in the know will sell new mints of the coins that were just recently 60 percent silver. However, the original seller knows that the new coins are devalued and will buy them at cost. But he will still resell the coins at the original 60 percent silver value. By the time people find out about the devalued coins, the moneychanger will have run off scot-free with the profit.

By: Alias

Alias — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:23:59 +0000

Actually, what I think is going on is this. Think of the various different coins as various currencys from all over the world. The value of each coin in dependent on the silver content in each one. Eg: a silver coin with 20% silver might be able to buy an apple, while a silver coin with 60% silver might be able to buy three apples. Just think of the coin in question as US dollars. So, in order to flaunt their power, US will put more silver in the coins, which will in turn drive up their face value, essentially, boasting to the rest of the country how rich and powerfull their country are. Then, something happens and they need to cut down on the amount of silver they put into that stuff. After awhile, if someone finds out about it, the value of the coin goes down. Like the value of US dollars dropping. Still, one thing I don’t really get at this point in the way to earn money of a devaluing currency. Welp, I guess we’ll have to wait till next week.

By: Shirukii

Shirukii — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:05:30 +0000

@ lolikit: Lies, I’ll stick to my percentages, that way I have deniability.

I’d plant seven seeds inside of her, if you know what I mean.

@ Lupus: Aww, key information not given, lame. I can’t really wager a guess.

@ proxyman: Well…Horo is hundreds of years old, and Lawrence is 25, so she had a bit of a head start, haha.

@ Pyrrhusonline: I’m continually surprised at how many readers here actually get the meme referencing. Just how many of you guys lurk anyways?!

@ Mike: That kind of sucks then, I hope there’s a second season to get to all that goodness then. And yea, I guess I meant novel, seeing as the manga is only up to chapter 4 or so.

@ Kabitzin: But Horo didn’t even sell him the idea of dressing up the fur with the smell of fruit. She just lied and said that the fur had absorbed the smell from the abundance of it in the forest.

@ Servbot: I think it was marmot fur, they’re something akin to squirrels.

@ Michael: Should have used Lawrence in the name field =P