User:Korinne/Sandbox1

Economy

The Interior of the Hammarvik Stock Exchange

Eldmark has a mixed market economy with mild regulations, a robust welfare system, and low barriers on trade. Eldmark is the 20th largest nominal GDP (€745 billion), the 20th largest by purchasing power parity (€1.12 trillion), and the 4th largest economy in Asteria Superior. Benefiting from considerably rich natural resources, an educated population, and an diverse industrial and export-oriented agricultural base, the economy of Eldmark has seen its domestic production increase by 32.3% over the last decade. Agribusiness (agriculture and cattle-raising), which grew by 40% or 3.6% per year, remains the most dynamic sector. It maintains a "high" rating on the Human Development Index, but also has a medium GINI Coefficient, at 41.2. Economic inequality has become a problem, although it has been steadily decreasing over the last decade. The average income in a typical urbanized area of Eldmark was, according to a report by the OAN, €44,290, while the average income in rural areas mere kilometers away was only €17,700. Hourly minimum wages are nationally set at K22.50 (€4.18). As a mixed market economy, the Government of Eldmark has stakes or holds outright ownership of some economic sectors, such as passenger rail, healthcare, and some heavy manufacturing.

The peoples of pre-contact Eldmark, and well into the intial colonization of the countryside, largely relied on subsistence agriculture and fishing. The first cash crops were sugar and tobacco, then rice, tea, and coffee quickly became economic contenders in their own right. In 1758, gold was discovered in the Ryggrad, prompting the first of a series of gold rushes, and the birth of the precious metals industry in the country, which remains a force in the modern economy of the nation. After Eldmarsk independence, the beef and pork grew steadily, as railroads expanded further inward towards the open pasture/brushlands of central and Eastern Eldmark. To this day, Eldmark is a top consumer and exporter of beef. The economy of Eldmark suffered greatly during to the Great Collapse, and was equally wrecked by the Ardesian invasion that followed. Afterwards, Eldmark experienced a quick recovery thanks to foreign assistance, and rapidly grew in the middle to latter half of the 20th century. In 1979, the country entered a recession amid a political corruption scandal and nationwide protests to civil rights abuses suffered at the hands of the Hellmann Administration. The 1980s was marked as a miraculous recovery period, with the succeeding government prioritizing the creation of a robust welfare program and economic regulation package. During the 20 years of AFP governance (Under Haraldsen, Lindbergh, and Essen, respectively), Eldmark saw growth in real GDP averaging at 8%. In 2001, the NP wrestled back parliamentary power, running on Orjan Rehn's economic platform "Ny NP," which sought to continue much of the welfare programs of the AFP. Rehn's administration was later forced to enact tight monetary policies and lower exports due to the Coian financial crisis, which would half the growth rate from 8% to 4%. Eldmark's economy has since recovered and has seen growth rates of 6–8% over the past several years.