The Vortex Parallel Rifts® Megaverse®

The Economics of North America

Or Why the Coalition Shouldn't exist

The Very Basic Flaw at the Heart of Everything

Every since I decided to run Rifts back in the early 90's, when it first appeared in RPG stores, I've had major issues with the setting in terms of "how does anyone, especially our PC heros, make any money with which to buy all the expensive high tech kit and equipment that litters and proliferates every single source book".

Looking through the books there is no concept of economy, trade, raw material supply, or how the ordinary person lives, at least outside the mythical Mega City of Chi-Town, and in reality even that is completely glossed over. There are allusions to basic laser rifles being out of the pocket of ordinary individuals, which basically means that the means to employ mercenaries or anyone else to protect them is out of the question.

In attempting to actually determine how Shiftsville, a small city of 5000 inhabitants and the basis for my campaign can exist, employ a significant portion of it's inhabitants both to run and protect the city (as is the case of almost every city/town described in the books, and based in historical reality from the middle ages colonial era), and actually function ecomically, I've had to look at the whole of economy of North America and how it can function in a post apocolyptic scenario. Remember, there is no global trade and everything has reverted to "city states" surrounded by  dangerous wilderness. In addition to this, reiteraed time and time again, access to even modern 21C tech is severly limited with most people living a subsitance existance akin to that of the poorest classes in the middle ages.

The whole concept of the existance of the Coalition, and in particular Chi-Town, becomes even more interesting if you actually take a look at the statistics relating to US trade, what it imports and what it exports. A good place to start are the US Commodity Summaries. I arbitarily decided to use the 2010 summary which has statistics and trends from 2000 through 2009. Whilst the individual sections on each of the minerals has some value, the interesting pages in relation to the whole economy are the three pages which summerise the total imports with percentage of total US demand, and the two pages which show the major production by state of US produced minerals.  These 3 pages combined tell a very simple story.. the only natural resource that Chi-Town has is the agricultural produce of Iowa (and Missouri if you want to be pedantic).  All other resouces necessary to manufacture all the high tech hardware used by its vast military has to be purchased beyond it's borders,  and somehow imported (this simple fact makes a complete mockery of the statemment on page 11 of Rifts Source Book 4 Coalition Navy, "This is mainly because the Coalition States are a Self-Sufficient nation that does not need to look outside its borders for essential goods"). Other than Quebec and it's trade deals with the NGR there are no imports to the US, so all those basic metals, like aluminium, taken for granted in 21C America simply are not available.. the US has imported all it's aluminium, the majority as bauxite ore, since well before 2000AD. This one single basic fact means that the Coalition pretty much ceases to exist, at least as the Evil Overlord depicted in the books, it simply does not have the capacity to either generate the vast sums of money necessary to purchase what it needs, nor with the state of the infrastucture continent wide obtain what it needs from the places that potentially have the capacity to create what it needs, assuming that it would countenance buying raw materials from them in the first place, and I'm talking about all those powerful magic communities that have the power by magic to create the resources from thin air. Note this also applies not only to metals, coffee in 21C USA is grown in 2 places Hawaii (which grows about 70% of US produced coffee) and California.Neither of these are part of the Coalition States nor readily accessible, and the Coalition doesn't trade with those outside its borders, like Mexico or South America (apparently!!!). Not that it mattered if it did. The worlds formost producers of coffee in the 21C are Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia, and just from a skim through Rifts World Book 6:South America, Brazil basically no longer exists and those bits that do have basically reverted to jungle and are now the scenes of massive conflict, and most of Colombia has gone, and what remains is at war with itself (the state of Colombia vs the Vampire Kingdom of Colombia). So we can forget any form of organised trade of farming from here. And Vietnam.. well thats on the other side of the world so we can forget that as well.

I'm also going to throw another spanner into the works here as well. Let's assume for a minute that the Coalition does have the necessary capacity to finance it's operations. How do the raw meterials get from outside the Coalition boarders to inside the boarders? Once about 20 miles inside it's boarders transport would not be an issue. Inside the boarders the roads are all well maintained so equivalents to 21C Heavy Haulage Tractor Units and Trailers (Articulated HGVs to everyone else in the world) can perform all the necessary haulage, much like they do today. All the issues occur in moving goods on roads that if they still exist haven't been maintained for more than 200years, through countryside plagued by bandits and supernatural threats. The latter can be compensated for by providing military escort, in  the best "Fantasy" setting tradition, but the former is much more of an issue, just as it is in the 21C.

If you look at the 21C as an example there are two classes of "Off-Road" heavy haulage, the Military Tactical Truck, in the US basically the Oshkosh HETT trucks like the M985, whilst in Europe trucks like the MANN HX58, and the specialist civilian trucks which in the US basically boils down to the Kenworth C500 variants, used in Oil production, logging, mining, and construction. Not a problem then.. except Oshkosh's main facility is in Oshkosh, Central Wisconsin, and it's secondary facility is in Jefferson City, Tennessee, both of which are in areas of numerous leyline nexus points, major rift activity, and are plagued by supernatural monsters. So basically neither of these are in any way shape or form accessible. So no military option then, how about the civilian one then? Unfurtunately, that's also a non-starter. Kenworth's US production facility is in Chillicothe, Ohio, the location of several major nexus points in the heart of the Magic Zone. It's also close to the mythical city of Dwoemer, not that any one other than it's residents or the residents of the "City of Brass" know that.

Just so you don't think that I have it in for Chi-Town, Free Quebec has similar issues. The Glitterboy, or to give it it's original name "The Chromium Guardsman", how's it made? Well we have to assume that given it's name it has some form of Chromium plating. Now of the 330,000 tonnes of Chromium used in the US in 2009, 150,000 tonnes were imported, 20,000 tonnes were recycled from existing Chromium stocks, and 160,000 tonnes were from recycling other material, principly stainless steel.


A quick look at reality...

Before being able to determine a fix for the flaws, it would be useful to analyse the problem in more detail. Let’s therefore look at the components that make up “The Coalition”, their location, and the logistics of connecting them.

The Coalition predominately comprises the following states:

Now I’m going to factor Free Quebec out of the equation for a number of reasons. They have full coastal access, full control over the St Lawrence, they technically control the Weyland Canal which links Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the Quebec region has significant natural resources, and Quebec effectively has free and unfettered access to the Debris Wall and therefore no issues with acquiring large quantities of salvaged materials.

Missouri and the majority of Iowa under Chi-Town control are effectively the farming and agricultural hub, but they would only be able to produce basic farm staples:- Wheat, Corn, Oats, Barley, Maize, Rape, Sorghum, Spelt, vegetables(Potatoes, Carrots, Brassicas, Lettuce, beetroot, Parsnips, Tomatoes, Garlic, Onions, Cucumbers, Zucchini), basic fruits (Apples, Pears, Plums, Cherries), beef, dairy, lamb, pork, chickens and eggs, and farmed venison. This leaves a major hole in the American staple drink; Coffee (only Hawaii and California currently grow it and have the climate to do so, and Hawaii has gone with the arrival of Atlantis).

Chi-Town itself is basically just a big factory and military hub. They can turn most raw materials into goods from weapons to medicines.. they just don't have any natural raw materials to use.

Iron Heart is basically a mining and factory hub. It would need to import almost all of its food needs. Iron Heart notionally has access to Lake Huron, and therefore theoretically to both Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and via the Welland Canal (port Colborne Ontario on Lake Erie, to Port Weller, Ontario, on Lake Ontario, West of the falls) to Lake Ontario and therefore to the St Lawrence. Note until the Coalition annexes New Kerrona in 105PA (according to the books) Iron Heart Armamments is an independant Kingdom but it suffers with the same resource issues as the Coalition does.

Fort El Dorado, Arkansas, exists for 2 very good reasons, Oil and Gas, and Cotton. Both of which it trades to both Chi-Town and Lone Star for high tech goods it can't produce itself.  Note in 21C America Texas is the largest cotton producer in the US accounting for 25% of the total US crop.

Lonestar is a complete anomaly. It didn't exist as a place until 68PA when Chi-Town scavenging teams unearthed the research complex. 48 hours later Chi-Town Annexed it by dropping a full armoured division on the complex. A small town grew as a result, and in 78PA, Chi-Town gave in and built a proper fortified town along the same principles as the Chi-Town fortress.  All nearby farms produce enough cattle, dairy, and oil to support the complex. Everything else must be imported. It's also not on the Mississipi which means every thing either has to come in by air or land transport.

Returning the 21C, the current main highway route south out of Iowa is Route 35 down through Kansas city, then Route 49 on south, through Fayetteville until you get to Route 40 at Fort Smith in Arkansas. At Fort Smith you can either go East to Arkansas, or West to Oklahoma City and then south to Fort Worth and Dallas.

However, the main 21C route for bulk goods is the Mississipi river, which with the Illinois Canal, allows the Gulf of Mexico and everywhere south to be connected to the Great lakes, specifically Lake Michigan, at Chicargo. This is also true of the lakes themselves which with the SOO locks, the Welland Canal, and the St Lawrence, which allow access to the North Atlantic.

So how do we fix the flaws?

River and Great Lakes Transport

There is actually a partial solution within Coalition Navy, although like a lot of things its more or less just skimmed over and left with a few incomplete lines. This is actually the first part of  the solution to fixing fundamental flaws as to how the Coalition, and Chi-Town in particular exists.

It requires complete revamp of the manner in which the Coalition, and in particular Chi-Town, use the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and the Illinois Canal, since if the Mississippi River is the key the heavy haulage linking the Southern State of Lone Star to Chi-Town, and if the Great Lakes are the solution to linking Chi-Town, Iron Heart, and Free Quebec, then the Coalition has to have been using this since it's very earliest days. Along side this we need a  partial rewrite of the history of the Coalition Navy, since the revamp effectively means that the Coalition has had a Merchant Marine almost since its inception, and if the Navy didn't in reality exist till 95PA, then the Merchant Marine would have had to exist as part of the Army, much as the responsibility for the navagability and maintenance of both canals and Mississippi fell under the auspices of the American Army Engineering Corp in the 21C.

Again there are references to the use of these, the restoration and control of the locks in Rifts Source Book 4: Coalition Navy, Rifts World Book 11: Coalition War, in Rifts World book 20: Canada, and in Rifts World Book22: Free Quebec, but they are all somewhat glib.

We must assume that by at least the establishment of the PA calendar and therefore the formal establishment of the Coalition, that Free Quebec controls, at least partially,  and has operational the Welland Canal which links Lake Ontario at Port Welland with Lake Erie at Port Colborne. We also need to assume that if Chi-Town does not have the Illinois Canal under control and operational, it has at a minimum put back into service several of the Pusher/Tugs and a significant number of barges that formerly operated on the Mississippi through Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. We must also assume that as Chi-Town starts to expand it enhances and builds new barges to meet the needs of using the river, as river traffic is very susceptible to ambush and attack so needs to be escorted at all times. This means 24 hours guards and shuttling troops, Samas, and Sky Cycles backwards and forwards are both time and resource costly, so a support barge able to transport, resupply, and “rest” off duty troops becomes a must.  If they’re salvaging vehicles and other heavy equipment then moving it by river is logical, but they need to be able to load cargo where ever they are moored along the river. Logically therefore adapted barges with heavy lifting gear are going to appear, potentially allowing the barges to remain mid river and still load cargo. Additionally it’s also logical that the pusher/tugs used to move the barges are going to be upgraded to make them more resilient and more able to defend themselves.  In addition all river convoys are likely to be accompanied by a Spider Skull Walker.

The fly in the use of the Mississippi as a main transport artery are the two major nexus points in St Louis, which effectively make the Mississippi, Misouri, and Illinois rivers  non-navigable from 20 or so miles away.

Returning to trade on the Great Lakes we must also assume that for Chi-Town to trade with both Iron Heart and Free Quebec they would also need to have secured and restored the port area at the mouth of the Calumet River. This logically means a fortified port complex here. Note there is a similar requirement at Salute Ste. Marie (see below). This is because all Lake traffic currently uses 180m or 210m lakers which are too large to traverse the Illinois canal. Given the ships already exist and have done for a couple of hundred years and Quebec would have easy access to them, there is no reason to significantly change the design, other than potentially give them the means to defend themselves. Note even as armed merchant ships these are not warships, so would need additional protection from power armour and sky-cycles.  Since the merchant men are too large for the Illinios canal they would need a lake port to load cargo heading north and unload cargo heading south, which would logically be at the head of the Calmut River..

The problems are more significant when considering Iron Heart's ability to trade with either Free Quebec or Chi-Town, because it has no natural access to any of the Great Lakes, despite itself being surrounded by lakes (330 of them in fact). Even if Iron Heart controls the SOO locks at Salute Ste. Marie, there is still the problem of transport between there and Sudbury, unless Canadian Route 17 has been rebuilt (note: the 21C port is upstream of the locks on Lake Superior) or they have built or repaired a new railway.

Raw Materials

Before we can look at any form of fix for Chi-Town's and Missouri's) raw material issue we need to look at some facts and figures (See Table 1 below). Now the Consumption figures I'm using are from 2009, just a year picked at random. The figures are total US consumption and assume full access to all raw materials. This is not the case in 101PA. For example neither Chi-Town nor Missouri have access to the Iron Ore deposits in Northern Minnisota nor Northern Michigan which in 2009 accounted for 50% of the US iron and steel prodution. The figures are also based on the consuption for the US population at that time. The April 2010 census puts that figure at almost 309 million. A rough estimate for the combined populations of Chi-Town and Missouri in 101PA is 1.7 million, thats about 0.55% of what it was. We could reduce all consumption figures to 0.55% of the 2009 figures but that doesn't allow for the massive military production necessary to produce thousands of tanks, robots, skelebots, and the mutions to supply thousands of troops in a huge extended campaign. Now we could use any figure we like as a result, but I'm going to use a conserative figure, say 2.75% which is about 5 times the base and probably historically realistic based on other military dictatorships over the centuries.

  Total US Consumption 2009
Tonnes(x1000) 		Import% Estimated Consumption 101PA
Kg(x1000) 		Yearly Production (Kg) Demand Deficit
Kg(x1000)
Metal Single caster Total Casters
Copper 1660 24 45701 12610 2143666 (43557)
Cobalt 7300 75 200975 5008 851292 (200124)
Bismuth 1200 90 33037 8314 1413431 (31624)
Tin 50 80 1363 4164 707863 (655)
Zinc 920 76 25328 3992 678572 (24650)
Magnese 300 100 8259 4309 732547 (7527)
Nickle 152 100 4185 4908 834326 (3350)
Chromium 330 55 9085 1941 330021 (8755)
Iron 18000 7 495555 8800 1495932 (494059)
Mild Steel 44000
1211356 24449 4156262 (1207199)
Tool Steel 12000
330370 4518 768009 (329602)
Stainless Steel 2200
60568 4481 761838 (59806)
Aluminium 3930 100 108196 5239 890613 (107305)
Titanium 18 73 496 2576 437988 (58)
Tungsten 11 63 297 5552 943823 646

Table 1 - Raw materials Production and Estimates

There are a few things to point out in respect of the figures. For example why would Chi-Town need Chromium, Nickle, and/or Manganese? The simple answer is all of these are used in the production of various forms of steel. They also have uses in other alloys.

So we've dealt with the 3 left hand columns in Table 1. What about the right hand colums? These are predicated on one specific assumption, that magic can create the raw materials from thin air. Without this assuption the Rifts Megaverse as per the books cannot exist as Chi-Town cannot exist. It may have existed for a few years, but having consumed all available salvage from the ruins of what was 21C Earth it would have succumbed to all the outside forces as it ran out of raw materials to maintain it's armaments, vehicles, and infra-structure. What were then the states of Chi-Town, Iron Heart, and Missouri would then have become wilderness with small pockets of civiliation like the rest of the USA.

So with the above(very big) assumption in place, and based on that the existance of the 9th Level Spell, Create Metal (as described under Magic and Psionics), let us return to the 3 right hand columns of the table.

The first of the RH columns, Single caster, gives the weight in Kg of metal in bar form that a Line Walker or Mystic, casting Create Metal at 10th level proficiency and casting  the spell once a week according to the schedule of metals in Table 2 will produce in a year. The Total caster column works on a second assumption. If the Chi-Town/Missouri population accounts for 50% of the US population then there is another 1.7m people scattered across the remainder of the US states. If 1% of these are Line Walkers or Mystics, and 1% of these have the Create Metal Spell at the requisite proficiency then we have a pool of 170 casters capable of creating raw materials. There are then 2 assumpptions:-

  1. That this pool of casters casts the spell exclusively to sell the material for consumption by the Coalition
  2. That through some mechanism these materials are then purchased by and transported to Chi-Town/Missouri.
The final column is the deficit between what the estimated comsumption for Chi-Town/Missouri is and the amount that can be produced based on the assumed pool of casters and the schedule of casting. This shows that there are still huge deficiencies in Copper, Cobalt, Aluminium, Iron, and Steel.
Metal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48  
Copper                     1   1           1                               1               1           5
Cobalt                                               1                                           1     2
Bismuth                                         1                               1                     1 3
Tin                           1                                               1                     2
Zinc                             1                                               1                   2
Magnese                               1                                               1                 2
Nickle                                 1                                               1               2
Chromium                                   1                                                             1
Iron   1       1                                       1       1                                     4
Mild Steel 1       1   1                             1     1       1   1                     1   1 1   1   11
Tool Steel     1                                               1                                           2
Stainless Steel       1                                               1                                         2
Aluminium               1   1   1               1                       1   1   1                         7
Titanium                 1                                               1                               2
Tungsten                                             1                                                   1

Table 2 - Metal Type casting schedule by week

All looks okay doesn't it except for one small fact....to cast Create Metal at level 10 proficiency requires between 259(copper) and 664(Tungstan) PPE. Now a 10th Level Leyline walker has on average 365PPE, so casting one of these spells for the more common metals will take all of their PPE for the day, so realistically, and especially if we're talking about the less common metals, they're going to need to be on a ley line or close to a nexus point. This does have one upside, twice the volume of metal for the same PPE outlay, and the Leyline Walker recovers their PPE quicker so potentially could cast the spell twice a day, which is actually a necessity if we're going to put any dent in meeting the base estimated demand. This also means we're going to have to drastically reduce the material comsumption for 5 times to 3 time. So based on the our revised assumptions (and the schedule in table 4) we get..

  Total US Consumption 2009
Tonnes(x1000) 		Import% Estimated Consumption 101PA
Kg(x1000) 		Yearly Production (Kg) Demand Deficit
Kg(x1000)
Metal Single caster Total Casters
Copper 1660 24 27421
 126009 21436762 (5984)
Cobalt 7300 75 120585
 95146
 16174735
 (104410)
Bismuth 1200 90 19822
 33257
 5653741
 (14168)
Tin 50 80 818
 4164 707863 (110)
Zinc 920 76 15197
 63866
 10857186 (4340)
Magnese 300 100 4956
 21546
 3662752
 (1293)
Nickle 152 100 2511
 9816
 1668669
 (842)
Chromium 330 55 5451
 1941 330021 (8755)
Iron 18000 7 495555 360787
 6133341
 (235999)
Mild Steel 44000
690473
 782356
 133000537
 (557472)
Tool Steel 12000
198222
 171676
 29184852
 (169037)
Stainless Steel 2200
36341
 4481 761838 (59806)
Aluminium 3930 100 101258 113761
 19339353
 (81919)
Titanium 18 73 396 2576 437988 42
Tungsten 11 63 178
 11104
 1887663
 1709

Table 3 - Revised Raw materials Production and Estimates

Metal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48  
Copper                  10  
 
       1  
                             
     10         4
           25
Cobalt                       1 
                       2
                             4 
          4   4
   4 
 19
Bismuth                                        
   4                           1                     2
 6
Tin                      1    
                                             
                    1
Zinc                             2
      4           4 
                             2
       4 
           16
Magnese                               2
                                               2
        1         5
Nickle                                 1                                               1               2
Chromium                                   2
                                                  2     2 
     6
Iron   10       10           4 
      8       4 
    4   4 
     10       10            6     4 
        2  
 2   4 
 82
Mild Steel 10       10   10        8    10     8
    4    10   10     10       10   10    10    10    8     8 
   10  
10   10   176
Tool Steel     10                            4    2    
     4 
     10
                           4 
      4         38
Stainless Steel       10                                  2             10
                                         22
Aluminium               10   10   6
    10      4    4
 4                     10   10   4          2          2     76
Titanium                
                                             
       1                       1
Tungsten                                             1                                                   1

Table 4 - Revised Metal Type casting schedule by week

The Magical Mystery Tour

Have we solved the problem.. not really. We've scoped it and have a plausable mechanism to produce a significant element of the raw materials, but we still have the issue of getting them from somewhere along a Leyline and/or close to a nexus point to somewhere where the Coalition can buy them.. and moving 133,000 tonnes of steel (note the deficit is still nearly 558,000 tonnes) about is no trivial task, especially if the best 21C off-road trucks can just about carry 25 tonnes a go.. thats 5320 tuck loads, which is 240 a day!

Assuming we have this plausible pool of leyline Walkers/Mystics, where exactly are they located. The logical option is that the majority are either in the Magic Zone along the Ohio or Tennesse Rivers (including Lake Kentucky and the Cumberland River/Lake Berkley), or along it's extension down the Mississippi, or along the Missouri River. This makes sense for another reason, it's far easier to move bulk heavy loads on the river than by any other means ( A river barge is typically 195 by 35 feet (59.4 m × 10.7 m) and can carry 1400 tonnes). This also makes it logical that they're distributed around the Great Lakes, but this does mean that Chi-Town must have a fortified port facility at the mouth of the Calmet River.  This means they must have restored the various canals elements and locks that link the Illinois river to the Little Calmut River, and thence to the Great Lakes at Calmut in Eastside Chicago. Note there is a major Nexus point in Downtown Chicaro which means that the port has to be between Eastside and the Indiana Harbor. Indiana Harbour would actually make more sense but it would require a new canal to have been built between the end of the Lake George Canal and the junction of the Little and Great Calmut river. This is because whilst the Great Calmut river does exit to the Great Lake via the India harbour canal, it is not actually navigable by barge being too narrow and twisty.

There are a number of other factors that also need to be taken into account to make the Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers usable a a transport mechanism,especially as the  Devils Gate  on the west bank in St Louis and the Super Nexus point at the Cahokia Mounds just to the East of St Louis cuts the river system in half at St Loius.

Firstly the Coaltion (Chi-Town) will have had to built a fortified control point at all lock sites north of St Louis on all three rivers and restored both the locks and dams to working order. Each site would either need it's own local power plant or would need to have been tied into a wider power grid, and the locks gates are all hydraulically operated, with the pumps and valves being electrically powered.

Secondly, 3 new transfer "ports", linked by a new railroad would have had to have been built. These would need to be (approximately), at Cape LaCroix Creek east of Griadeau on the Mississippi south of St Louis, at Washington on the Missouri River West of St Louis, and at Clarksville on the Illinois River. Additionally a new "marshalling yard" would be required at Eolia, to allow trains to be reconfigured to/from an armoured configuration when heading south/north. Note: The Coalition does not control the area around St Loius! It attempts to corall forces emerging from the Devils Gate and Nexus, and send them primarilly South and East, and keep those which escape westwards from damaging either the railline to Cape LaCroix or any trains on route. The raillink from Cape LaCroix (Fort LaCroix) to Fort Washington is by way of Jackson, Millersville, Sedgewickville, Paton, Junction City, Farmington, Park Hills, Bonne-Terre, Cadet, Old Mines, Richwoods, St Clair,  and Union, a run of about 130miles. Trains between Eolia and either Fort Washington or Fort LaCroix (via Fort Wahington) are double engined! They also have 5 extra Armoured wagons, two between the first engine which itself is armed and armoured, and the second engine, and three at the tail end of the train. These extra elements are added/removed at the Eolia marshalling yard, which itself is fortified.


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