How do I install the Economic Systems skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add npbuilds/economic-systems in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Economic Systems safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Economic Systems?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Economic Systems free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Economic Systems?

npbuilds (@npbuilds) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Economic Systems by npbuilds — Agent Skill

Name: Economic Systems
Author: npbuilds

Economic Systems

Design fictional economies — trade routes, currency systems, resource scarcity, and the relationship between economic structure and power. Use when building a world's economy, designing currency or trade, creating scarcity-driven conflict, or when cultures-societies Pillar 2 (Economy) needs depth beyond the basics.

npbuilds 16d51b1 3 files · 8.0 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Economic Systems — What Gets Traded and Who Gets Rich

Economics is the substrate of power. How exchange is structured determines who has power and what conflicts are inevitable. This skill expands Pillar 2 (Economy) from cultures-societies into a full design methodology.

The Five Questions

1. What Is Scarce?

Scarcity determines value, which determines power. Resource scarcity (water, metal, fuel), fantasy-system scarcity (magic costs life force), knowledge scarcity (literacy restricted), labor scarcity, or post-scarcity (Banks' Culture — eliminates economic conflict, shifts drama to status and meaning).

2. How Is Value Exchanged?

Barter, commodity money, fiat currency, debt/credit, gift economy, reputation economy, soul/essence currency (Gladstone), labor tokens. Each system implies different cultural values and power structures.

3. Who Controls Production?

Feudal (land owners), mercantile (merchant class), plantation/extraction (colonial), communal (Le Guin's Anarres), fantasy-system-mediated (mage-aristocracy), corporate (cyberpunk).

4. How Does Geography Shape Trade?

Resources cluster geographically. Chokepoints create power. Trade creates cultural mixing. Trade routes shape alliances.

5. What's the Relationship Between Wealth and Power?

Can you buy office? Does power create wealth? Can fantasy ability generate wealth? The answer shapes the entire political system.

Innovative Currency Systems in Fiction

Work	Currency	Why It Works
Gladstone's Craft Sequence	Soulstuff	Economic transactions become existential
Sumner-Smith's Towers	Magic as currency	Magical gift = wealth; ungifted = homeless
Banks' Culture	Post-scarcity	Eliminates economic drama; forces character drama
Bear's Eternal Sky	Trade route control	Trade is money, money is armies, armies are power
Le Guin's Dispossessed	No property, labor-based	Economic system IS the thought experiment

Anti-Patterns

"Medieval gold" default — no one asks where gold comes from or why it's valuable
Infinite adventurer wealth — no inflation, taxation, or political consequences
Everyone is a farmer except protagonists — functional economies need artisans, merchants, clergy
Magic exists but doesn't affect economy — every fantasy element has economic implications
Trade without trade routes — goods appear in markets with no supply chain

Relationship to Other Skills

Cultures-Societies: Expands Pillar 2. Faction Design: Factions form around economic interests. Geography-Ecology: Determines resource distribution. Magic-System-Design: Fantasy system's economic implications must be traced. Extrapolation Engine: Run cascading consequence drills on economic axioms.

---name: economic-systemsdescription: Design fictional economies — trade routes, currency systems, resource scarcity, and the relationship between economic structure and power. Use when building a world's economy, designing currency or trade, creating scarcity-driven conflict, or when cultures-societies Pillar 2 (Economy) needs depth beyond the basics.---# Economic Systems — What Gets Traded and Who Gets RichEconomics is the substrate of power. How exchange is structured determines who has power and what conflicts are inevitable. This skill expands Pillar 2 (Economy) from `cultures-societies` into a full design methodology.## The Five Questions### 1. What Is Scarce?Scarcity determines value, which determines power. Resource scarcity (water, metal, fuel), fantasy-system scarcity (magic costs life force), knowledge scarcity (literacy restricted), labor scarcity, or post-scarcity (Banks' Culture — eliminates economic conflict, shifts drama to status and meaning).### 2. How Is Value Exchanged?Barter, commodity money, fiat currency, debt/credit, gift economy, reputation economy, soul/essence currency (Gladstone), labor tokens. Each system implies different cultural values and power structures.### 3. Who Controls Production?Feudal (land owners), mercantile (merchant class), plantation/extraction (colonial), communal (Le Guin's Anarres), fantasy-system-mediated (mage-aristocracy), corporate (cyberpunk).### 4. How Does Geography Shape Trade?Resources cluster geographically. Chokepoints create power. Trade creates cultural mixing. Trade routes shape alliances.### 5. What's the Relationship Between Wealth and Power?Can you buy office? Does power create wealth? Can fantasy ability generate wealth? The answer shapes the entire political system.## Innovative Currency Systems in Fiction| Work | Currency | Why It Works ||------|----------|-------------|| Gladstone's *Craft Sequence* | Soulstuff | Economic transactions become existential || Sumner-Smith's *Towers* | Magic as currency | Magical gift = wealth; ungifted = homeless || Banks' *Culture* | Post-scarcity | Eliminates economic drama; forces character drama || Bear's *Eternal Sky* | Trade route control | Trade is money, money is armies, armies are power || Le Guin's *Dispossessed* | No property, labor-based | Economic system IS the thought experiment |## Anti-Patterns1. "Medieval gold" default — no one asks where gold comes from or why it's valuable2. Infinite adventurer wealth — no inflation, taxation, or political consequences3. Everyone is a farmer except protagonists — functional economies need artisans, merchants, clergy4. Magic exists but doesn't affect economy — every fantasy element has economic implications5. Trade without trade routes — goods appear in markets with no supply chain## Relationship to Other Skills- **Cultures-Societies**: Expands Pillar 2. **Faction Design**: Factions form around economic interests. **Geography-Ecology**: Determines resource distribution. **Magic-System-Design**: Fantasy system's economic implications must be traced. **Extrapolation Engine**: Run cascading consequence drills on economic axioms.

Frequently asked questions