The economic system may be a background mechanic, however, here is a more in depth explanation of how it works.
The Currency: Credit(s)
Credits are the universal currency across Stelvik Station and the rest of the in-character universe at large. They are used for purchasing and selling trade goods across the entire network. Each faction has a set market value that’s worth a set amount of credits.
The government on the station collects taxes from the corporations and from the citizens of the station:
- Corporate Tax: ~15%
- Small Business Tax: ~8% to ~10%
- Income Tax: ~3% to ~10% (depending upon taxable income)
Taxes are a background mechanic allowing the government to maintain a cashflow on the station. There are only the above listed taxes with the citizen income tax system being bracketed based on income. There are no hard numbers to determine how much a citizen may pay. There are no sales taxes, or any type of property taxes.
There is no background mechanic that determines how many credits each faction or the government currently has. There is also no background mechanic that determines how many credits each citizen or player holds at any given time. The only real rule for playing characters and non-playing characters is that the credit pool remains reasonable. Reasonable credit balance is further explained in the simm rules.
Beyond Stelvik Station there is a larger galactic market that operates in the background. Not every good is produced by Stelvik Station forcing imports, similar to exports of trade goods from the station. The economic situation is fluctuating, however, it remains balanced and relatively simple for the purposes of maintaining a character driven story.