This Day in History: United Earth Credits

THIS DAY IN HISTORY
August 20, 2528 SET


One Currency to Unite Them
Shortly after the creation of the United Planets of Earth, Humanity’s expansion into the galaxy was increasing at an exponential rate. Terraforming technology became more accessible and new outfits began to spring up, sparking a planet rush for new terrain. It was this rapid expansion and colonization that created the first real hurdle for the newly-formed UPE. Various and competing forms of currencies had begun to appear on the various planets, challenging the Cash Transaction Records, or CTRs, the UPE’s official currency at the time.

In Spring 2528, High Secretary Livia Fenner assembled a commission of economists, financial consultants and OMB officials to explore possible solutions. This commission spent the next few months testing the economic feasibility of a government that supports multiple currencies. They ultimately decided that the entire currency system required a complete overhaul. Local governments would have to be forbidden from minting their own methods of exchange, so that the UPE could bring all the various planets under one consistent and unified form of currency.

It was in these meetings that the United Earth Credit was born. After the announcement of this unified currency, the first course of action was to create an entity that would act as the hub for handling the new currency. The UPE brought in experts from the various financial markets to ultimately form the Central Core Bank to create and administer the monetary policy, to conduct foreign exchange operations and monitor the banking sector. Most importantly, the Central Core Bank would maintain reserves to provide the financial backing that could honor the Credit attached to each UEC.

Initial response to the UEC was tepid at best, incendiary at worst. The 12th Expeditionary Forces had to be deployed to Cestulus in the Davien system to quell riots that broke out over protests sparked by fears of an imminent economic collapse. The ‘Siege of Jata’ lasted two weeks, resulting in hundreds of injuries and the deaths of two soldiers, before order was restored.

The UEC didn’t officially take over as the official currency for another four years. High Secretary Fenner and the rest of the commission went to great lengths to accommodate the various planets who had been sustaining their own currency for decades. This process even attracted the attention of the Banu Protectorate, who had been looking for a solution to the competing currencies of their own independent planet-governments.

After Ivar Messer’s ascension to power, he wasted no time in appropriating the resources of the Central Core Bank and turning it into his personal vault. With the finances of the newly titled United Empire of Earth at his disposal, the new Imperator was able to cement his power base and eliminate any opposition through financial attrition or infusing their rivals with enough credits to vanquish them.

Imperator Galor Messer IX conceived the idea of renaming UECs or Credits as ‘Imperials,’ a designation still in use today despite its dark origin.

So on this day, August 20th 2528 SET, the long and tumultuous life of the United Earth Credit, UEC, Credit or Imperial began. The modern UEC remains one of the shining beacons of human economic stability.

AN DIESEM TAG IN DER GESCHICHTE
20. August 2528 SET


Eine Währung, um sie zu vereinen.
Kurz nach der Erschaffung der Vereinigten Planeten der Erde nahm die Expansion der Menschheit in die Galaxie exponentiell zu. Die Terraforming-Technologie wurde zugänglicher, und neue Outfits begannen zu entstehen, was einen weltweiten Ansturm auf neues Terrain auslöste. Es war diese schnelle Expansion und Kolonisierung, die die erste wirkliche Hürde für die neu gegründete UPE darstellte. Verschiedene und konkurrierende Formen von Währungen tauchten auf den verschiedenen Planeten auf und stellten die Cash Transaction Records (CTRs), die damals die offizielle Währung der UPE waren, in Frage.

Im Frühjahr 2528 setzte die Hohe Sekretärin Livia Fenner eine Kommission aus Ökonomen, Finanzberatern und OMB-Beamten ein, um mögliche Lösungen zu prüfen. Diese Kommission hat in den nächsten Monaten die wirtschaftliche Machbarkeit einer Regierung getestet, die mehrere Währungen unterstützt. Sie entschieden schließlich, dass das gesamte Währungssystem einer vollständigen Überarbeitung bedurfte. Den lokalen Regierungen müsste verboten werden, ihre eigenen Tauschmethoden zu prägen, damit die UPE alle verschiedenen Planeten unter eine einheitliche und einheitliche Währungsform bringen kann.

In diesen Meetings wurde der United Earth Credit geboren. Nach der Ankündigung dieser einheitlichen Währung war die erste Vorgehensweise die Schaffung einer Einheit, die als Drehscheibe für die Handhabung der neuen Währung dienen sollte. Die UPE holte Experten aus den verschiedenen Finanzmärkten ein, um schließlich die Zentralbank zu bilden, die die Geldpolitik erstellt und verwaltet, Devisengeschäfte durchführt und den Bankensektor überwacht. Am wichtigsten ist, dass die Zentralbank Reserven halten würde, um die finanzielle Unterstützung bereitzustellen, die die Kreditwürdigkeit der einzelnen UECs gewährleisten könnte.

Die erste Reaktion auf die UEC war bestenfalls lauwarm, schlimmstenfalls explosionsartig. Die 12. Expeditionskräfte mussten nach Cestulus im Davien-System entsandt werden, um Unruhen zu unterdrücken, die über Proteste auslösten, die aus der Angst vor einem drohenden wirtschaftlichen Zusammenbruch ausgelöst wurden. Die "Belagerung von Jata" dauerte zwei Wochen, was zu Hunderten von Verletzungen und zum Tod von zwei Soldaten führte, bevor die Ordnung wiederhergestellt wurde.

Die UEC hat die offizielle Währung für weitere vier Jahre nicht offiziell übernommen. Der Hohe Sekretär Fenner und der Rest der Kommission unternahmen große Anstrengungen, um die verschiedenen Planeten unterzubringen, die seit Jahrzehnten ihre eigene Währung hatten. Dieser Prozess zog sogar die Aufmerksamkeit des Banu Protektorats auf sich, das nach einer Lösung für die konkurrierenden Währungen seiner eigenen unabhängigen Planetenregierungen gesucht hatte.

Nach der Machtergreifung von Ivar Messer vergeudete er keine Zeit mehr, um sich die Ressourcen der Zentralbank anzueignen und sie in sein persönliches Gewölbe zu verwandeln. Mit den Finanzen des neu benannten Vereinigten Reiches der Erde, über die er verfügte, war der neue Imperator in der Lage, seine Machtbasis zu festigen und jede Opposition durch finanzielle Fluktuation zu beseitigen oder seinen Rivalen genügend Kredite zu gewähren, um sie zu besiegen.

Importeur Galor Messer IX entwickelte die Idee, UECs oder Credits in "Imperials" umzubenennen, eine Bezeichnung, die trotz ihrer dunklen Herkunft noch heute verwendet wird.

So begann an diesem Tag, dem 20. August 2528 SET, das lange und turbulente Leben des United Earth Credit, UEC, Credit oder Imperial. Die moderne UEC bleibt eines der leuchtenden Leuchtfeuer der menschlichen wirtschaftlichen Stabilität.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY
August 20, 2528 SET


One Currency to Unite Them
Shortly after the creation of the United Planets of Earth, Humanity’s expansion into the galaxy was increasing at an exponential rate. Terraforming technology became more accessible and new outfits began to spring up, sparking a planet rush for new terrain. It was this rapid expansion and colonization that created the first real hurdle for the newly-formed UPE. Various and competing forms of currencies had begun to appear on the various planets, challenging the Cash Transaction Records, or CTRs, the UPE’s official currency at the time.

In Spring 2528, High Secretary Livia Fenner assembled a commission of economists, financial consultants and OMB officials to explore possible solutions. This commission spent the next few months testing the economic feasibility of a government that supports multiple currencies. They ultimately decided that the entire currency system required a complete overhaul. Local governments would have to be forbidden from minting their own methods of exchange, so that the UPE could bring all the various planets under one consistent and unified form of currency.

It was in these meetings that the United Earth Credit was born. After the announcement of this unified currency, the first course of action was to create an entity that would act as the hub for handling the new currency. The UPE brought in experts from the various financial markets to ultimately form the Central Core Bank to create and administer the monetary policy, to conduct foreign exchange operations and monitor the banking sector. Most importantly, the Central Core Bank would maintain reserves to provide the financial backing that could honor the Credit attached to each UEC.

Initial response to the UEC was tepid at best, incendiary at worst. The 12th Expeditionary Forces had to be deployed to Cestulus in the Davien system to quell riots that broke out over protests sparked by fears of an imminent economic collapse. The ‘Siege of Jata’ lasted two weeks, resulting in hundreds of injuries and the deaths of two soldiers, before order was restored.

The UEC didn’t officially take over as the official currency for another four years. High Secretary Fenner and the rest of the commission went to great lengths to accommodate the various planets who had been sustaining their own currency for decades. This process even attracted the attention of the Banu Protectorate, who had been looking for a solution to the competing currencies of their own independent planet-governments.

After Ivar Messer’s ascension to power, he wasted no time in appropriating the resources of the Central Core Bank and turning it into his personal vault. With the finances of the newly titled United Empire of Earth at his disposal, the new Imperator was able to cement his power base and eliminate any opposition through financial attrition or infusing their rivals with enough credits to vanquish them.

Imperator Galor Messer IX conceived the idea of renaming UECs or Credits as ‘Imperials,’ a designation still in use today despite its dark origin.

So on this day, August 20th 2528 SET, the long and tumultuous life of the United Earth Credit, UEC, Credit or Imperial began. The modern UEC remains one of the shining beacons of human economic stability.