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How does the free market and economy work in the Harry Potter Universe?
Posted on 12/12/12 at 9:22 pm
Posted on 12/12/12 at 9:22 pm
It seems that the only wizards that are specialized in one sort of craft or job tend to be the ones that have legitimate occupations. Olivander and The Weasley Bros. are examples of this...it makes sense where their money comes from.
Then you have those wizards that work for someone else. What constitutes "doing work" to wizards and witches? Couldn't a good wizard just make a "spell macro" and do all of what they need to get done? The only few people we know of that have jobs and what those jobs entail are the teachers and Mr. Weasley, who is a researcher at the Ministry of Magic.
The other wizards at the Ministry, what do they do? Are they monitoring the floo network, underage wizards, wizard laws?
What was Voldemort's occupation? He had to get his power from somewhere. What did Dumbledore do before being a teacher? Did he just duel for money?
And then we have Gringotts. Patrons basically store your money, gold, and heirlooms away in a vault. Is there any interest? Do goblins monitor the money so that there are no such things as duplication charms and spells used to cheat the system? Is there a way to invest the money?
So I guess this all breaks down into the following 3 questions:
- What constitutes work for a wizard or witch?
- What are examples of the menial "desk jobs" of wizards and witches?
- How does Gringotts work?
Then you have those wizards that work for someone else. What constitutes "doing work" to wizards and witches? Couldn't a good wizard just make a "spell macro" and do all of what they need to get done? The only few people we know of that have jobs and what those jobs entail are the teachers and Mr. Weasley, who is a researcher at the Ministry of Magic.
The other wizards at the Ministry, what do they do? Are they monitoring the floo network, underage wizards, wizard laws?
What was Voldemort's occupation? He had to get his power from somewhere. What did Dumbledore do before being a teacher? Did he just duel for money?
And then we have Gringotts. Patrons basically store your money, gold, and heirlooms away in a vault. Is there any interest? Do goblins monitor the money so that there are no such things as duplication charms and spells used to cheat the system? Is there a way to invest the money?
So I guess this all breaks down into the following 3 questions:
- What constitutes work for a wizard or witch?
- What are examples of the menial "desk jobs" of wizards and witches?
- How does Gringotts work?
This post was edited on 12/12/12 at 9:27 pm
8
Posted on 12/12/12 at 9:24 pm to Pectus
My head hurts even trying to think about that. I always wondered about it but stopped myself shortly thereafter 
Posted on 12/12/12 at 9:37 pm to Pectus
Seemed like more of a barter system for many of them. But they had Gringotts and coinage. So it was just like our gig. I guess it's like anything else, you provide a service, you get paid if the demand is there. Sure tuition to Hogwarts is a motherfricker. Why else do you think Ron Weasley is wearing hand-me-downs.
This post was edited on 12/12/12 at 9:38 pm
Posted on 12/12/12 at 9:41 pm to Tiger Authority
quote:
Sure tuition to Hogwarts is a motherfricker. Why else do you think Ron Weasley is wearing hand-me-downs.
How much does it cost to operate Hogwarts? Paying the staff, feeding the children, upkeep...
How much did it cost to build Hogwarts? Or add on expansions?
Posted on 12/12/12 at 9:41 pm to Pectus
Upkeep is for muggles dude.
Posted on 12/12/12 at 9:43 pm to Pectus
It's in Europe. Everyone works for the government or is on the dole.
That's why they didn't have the American wizards on there. Didn't want to be exposed to capitalism.
That's why they didn't have the American wizards on there. Didn't want to be exposed to capitalism.
Posted on 12/12/12 at 10:07 pm to Pectus
and you wonder why your still a virgin
Posted on 12/12/12 at 10:07 pm to PurpleandGold Motown
quote:
It's in Europe. Everyone works for the government or is on the dole.
That's why they didn't have the American wizards on there. Didn't want to be exposed to capitalism.
Best response yet
Posted on 12/12/12 at 10:10 pm to Turkey_Creek_Tiger
quote:
and you wonder why your still a virgin
But he's employed, which is more than we can say for you.
Posted on 12/12/12 at 10:22 pm to Tiger Authority
quote:
But he's employed, which is more than we can say for you.
im employed and what does that have to do with this
Posted on 12/12/12 at 10:29 pm to Pectus
quote:
Then you have those wizards that work for someone else. What constitutes "doing work" to wizards and witches?
There are lots of shops and stores in the Wizard world, places on Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade for example. I'm sure there are other places like that we just never got introduced to
quote:
Couldn't a good wizard just make a "spell macro" and do all of what they need to get done?
I guess you could make a spell to duplicate money, but there are also spells and also ways to check or mark what is an original and what is not, we see many a charm in the wizard world designed to uncover phonies. I suppose it'd be just like counterfeit money in our world, you can get away with it sometimes, but it's illegal.
quote:
The other wizards at the Ministry, what do they do? Are they monitoring the floo network, underage wizards, wizard laws?
Yes they do these things and more. We saw lots of people working delivering government documents, ruling in courts, the whole mystery department as well. Plus as you mentioned the floo network, portal registration, apparition instructors, underage magic watchers, aurors, ect... Also there would be plenty of jobs in the wizard world that are similar to muggle jobs. Waiters, cashiers, cooks, police, event coordinators, marketing people ect...
quote:
What was Voldemort's occupation? He had to get his power from somewhere. What did Dumbledore do before being a teacher? Did he just duel for money?
If you remember Voldemort wanted to be a teacher after school but Dumbledore wouldn't hire him, also a guy with evil followers stealing and doing dark magic doesn't really need a job, he can just kill and take what he wants. As for Dumbledore he went into teaching out of school. He also did a lot of things for the Ministry, sat on courts and stuff, they even wanted him to be minister.
quote:
And then we have Gringotts. Patrons basically store your money, gold, and heirlooms away in a vault. Is there any interest? Do goblins monitor the money so that there are no such things as duplication charms and spells used to cheat the system? Is there a way to invest the money?
I kinda went over this, yea there's ways to cheat but also ways to check for cheats and counterfeits. As far as interest goes I'm not sure but I'm guessing it would work the same as our banks.
You'd also need quite a number of wizards to take care of magical creatures and the stuff they destroy (like Charlie Weasley)
Also the Ministry of Magic is a very large organization. Imagine how many people they'd have to have employed just to keep muffles from finding out about the magical world? The Ministry for sure employs a lot of people. And than remember there are far less wizards and witches than there are mugglles in the world. So there may be less jobs but also less people.
I hope all of that made sense I'm on my phone so sorry if its all misspelled or confusing...
Eta: forgot to even mention reporters, we met a few of them an the daily prophet is a big paper... Also there have to be people in charge of the owl network
This post was edited on 12/12/12 at 10:31 pm
Posted on 12/12/12 at 10:31 pm to Turkey_Creek_Tiger
quote:
im employed and what does that have to do with this
Posted on 12/12/12 at 10:39 pm to Tiger1242
Tiger1242, thanks for the well thought out post.
Posted on 12/12/12 at 10:55 pm to Pectus
I do not recall ever seeing or reading someone create matter, so corporations would be necessary to make everything everyone uses on a daily basis, etc. The food had to come from somewhere too, no doubt, requiring farmers. Being England, there was also likely a very high tax rate.
There is also a lot of people with family money (like the Malfoys and Potter) from centuries ago. No doubt much of that money was acquired from muggles in less than legal or ethical ways.
Finally, we know the muggle prime minister of England always was informed about the wizarding world. The ministry of magic does a lot to keep the muggles safe and ignorant. I imagine they were compensated for that service somehow by the muggle government.
There is also a lot of people with family money (like the Malfoys and Potter) from centuries ago. No doubt much of that money was acquired from muggles in less than legal or ethical ways.
Finally, we know the muggle prime minister of England always was informed about the wizarding world. The ministry of magic does a lot to keep the muggles safe and ignorant. I imagine they were compensated for that service somehow by the muggle government.
This post was edited on 12/12/12 at 10:56 pm
Posted on 12/12/12 at 11:22 pm to Turkey_Creek_Tiger
quote:
and you wonder why your still a virgin
Ah yeah, women pick up on your subtle after thoughts.
They know you were thinking about nerdy things last wednesday so they choose that other guy who was thinking about "slayin pussy" 24/7.
GTFO
Posted on 12/12/12 at 11:23 pm to Pectus
The Unions would back Voldemort
/poliboard
/poliboard
Posted on 12/12/12 at 11:32 pm to Brettesaurus Rex
quote:
I always wondered about it but stopped myself shortly thereafter
THis
Posted on 12/13/12 at 8:09 am to Tiger1242
Thank you guys for some well thought out answers.
Some make perfect sense and sme lead to more questions.
Posted on 12/13/12 at 8:45 am to Pectus
I wanna know what Harry's parents did that they were able to leave him all that gold
Posted on 12/13/12 at 9:44 am to The Godfather
quote:
I wanna know what Harry's parents did that they were able to leave him all that gold
His parents actually never worked. From the moment they graduated Hogwarts, they joined the fight against Voldemort. The Potter family was a strong wizarding family that went back a very long time. They descended from the Peverell brother that created the invisibility cloak deathly hallow, after all. Like many of the wizarding families that could trace their lineage back a long time (Malfoys and Blacks), they had amassed a fortune over the centuries. It is almost a patrician/plebeian type of society where the ancient wizarding families are the nobility.
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