Debt money

Debt money, or “fractional reserve system”, is the system used everywhere in the world. In this system, money is created by commercial banks when they issue a credit.

When debt money is used in the game, a player take the role of the banker. This player is part of the game, so a precise accounting needs to be done to include him in the final reports.

We use the colored banknotes, they represent units. We place banknote markers on the help sheet.

The banknote of the highest color equals 2 units, medium is 1 unit and the lower is 1/2 unit.

A low value card equals 1 money unit at start, medium value is 2 units, highest value is 4 units.

Money is always working on a rolling cycle in time, which permits, if the banker wants it, to shift the colors if he sees fits. But it is not mandatory, the banker must decide himself if he needs to add credits of higher level or not in the economy. Price of the cards will then adapt to the new injected money.

Then, by “rolling the money” if he wants, by injecting a “high” color, the banker might devalued the money already created.

Here it’s the banker alone who credits the economy.

To start, he can distribute a few banknotes randomly at his will, very few, to some players.

Note

However this is not the best method to play, it is better to start directly by granting credits, on the first turn, and even before the first turn, always for the reason that the first turn should depict a normal turn in an already monetized economy.

At any time during the turn, players can talk to the banker to get a credit.

Note

Warranties: a good rule for the banker that he should not forget is to not give credit to someone without any economic assets to “assure the credit”. This is to ensure the repay in money or in values, and not to “go bankrupt”, because a bank which can not be repaid should go bankrupt in this money system.

At the end of the turn, the banker claim for the repay of the complete credit (interests included) or only the interests for the current credits.

If the player can not repay in money units, then the banker is allowed to take him as much value cards he sees fits to be widely repaid.

Sometimes, in case of a total incapacity of repayment (which came from an inattention of the banker when he gave the credit, see the note on garanties), player can be sent “directly in jail” for 1 turn, before replay with 4 new cards of low value.

Note

To be in jail should not be a “fun” moment for the player. He should be isolated from the game during 1 turn without communication nor food. It should not be a pleasant “pause”, but an isolation to force him to “think about”. However, if the banker plays well we can play an entire game without prison.

Banker accounting

Players accounting does not change from the main rules.

On the other side, we must do a net accounting for the banker because, during the repay, he does not keep the primary credit but only the interests. Banker profit is accounted as this: (repayments sum) – (credits sum).

Note

For example the banker has given a 3 units credit, with a one turn interest of 1 unit. At the end of the turn, the player can repay 4 units, including 3 as the primary credit and 1 as interests. The banker resets the credit for the player who have no more debt and get a profit of +1 unit on his own account, he keeps only one banknote for himself. Another solution: the player repays only one unit for the turn, which is kept by the banker, and stay credited by the primary credit, so he will have to repay again the interest for the next turn and this as long as the primary credit is not repaid.

Concernant les remboursements en nature une valeur économique vaudra moins que l’équivalent des unités monétaires qu’elle représente (ce qui correspond aux frais).

Note

Reminder: a card of superior value costs 2 times the inferior value card. So if a player can not pay with money his credit of 3 units + 1 unit of interests at the end of the turn, the banker could take at least 2 medium cards (which equals to 2 x 2 = 4 units), plus fees as for example 1 or 2 low value cards. There is no precise rules here, because fees can be very floating and it is the banker who decides.

The player playing the bank should have a reliable accounting to obtain correct data to use in the final economical report of the game.

Note

Practice shows that this accounting is easy if the player knows the banker behavior very well. It should be done simply on a A4 paper sheet where the list of the players is written.