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Economy of the Republic of Wyneries
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Statistical Overview
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- Currency: Bangaloor
- Fiscal Year: 1 April - 31 March
- Trade Organizations: SPFTA, OECD, WTO, ANZROW
- GDP:
B1.235 trillion
- GDP Growth: 2.8%
- GDP per capita:
B64,200
- GDP by sector: agriculture 2.3%; mining 16.4%; husbandry 2.1%; manufacturing 7.4%; building materials .7%; technology 11.8%; services 17.0%
- Inflation: 2.1%
- Unemployment: 2.2%
- Exports:
B386 billion
- Imports:
B405 billion
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Wine and Food Production
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Wine is the elixir that drives the RoW economy. However, it is not the largest economic sector, does not
employ the most people, and does not generate the most sales or income. Still, it is by far the single largest
agricultural by-product. Nearly 45% of all agricultural land is dedicated to grapes, berries and fruit that
feed the wineries. Further, the largest share of taxes are paid by the wineries and this makes them extremely
important to everyone. Of the remaining agricultural land, 4/5 is dedicated to growing food for the populace and
1/5 for animal feed.
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 Wine
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The entire economic basis for the 1849 emigration that foundered on the rocks off RoW was wine. All the
equipment, supplies, and seed survived the shipwrecks, so it should not be surprising it was put to use. That
the land they were put to use on was so inhospitable to any agriculture at all makes the effort all the more
incredible.
It must be remembered that the grape seeds collected for the journey had transited from the northern
hemisphere to the southern. While the seeds were approaching their natural winter, the world around them was
approaching its natural summer. The seeds were not ready for planting, which was fine at the time as the
emigrants had their hands full coping with their circumstances. When the seeds were germinated the following
year, they were past their period and did poorly. Of 70,000 seeds carried, intended to be split among 70
planters, fewer than 20% germinated. But, since they were germinated in a common area barely able to support
even as many plants as actually grew, the small fertility may have been a blessing. When the planters set
out to inhabit their estates, most left their vines in the common area for one or two years while they built
dwellings, dug wells and planted essential gardens. Many vines died when dug up and transported bare-rooted to
their eventual vineyards, but those that lived adapted well to the new land.
Some varieties took to the new climate and soil better than others, and in time cuttings from the more
successful were used to replace the ones that did poorly. The varieties were interplanted, cross-pollinated
and their seed in turn produced completely new vines never seen before by man. Over the next 150 years, the
isolated vineyards of the RoW evolved to produce very fine and unique wines, highly prized throughout the world.
The 418 wineries of the RoW produce 120,000 metric tons of wine, making it the 25th or 26th producer in the
world.
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Food
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The most important dietary protein sources in RoW from its beginning have been and remain seafoods,
chicken and eggs. Fish, shrimp, shellfish and rock lobster dominate the first sector. Hundreds of chicken
farms contribute to the second. Pork adds a distant third protein source to the diet, but red meat is a much
smaller fourth source. Although thousands of acres of lava are being covered with new soil and compost each
year, tillable soil is still considered too valuable to waste on grazing animals (see History). Sheep, goats
and cattle are grazed in the Green Ridge Mountains. These animals provide supplemental red meat and most of
the butter and cheeses consumed in RoW as part of the average diet.
Originally the communal garden and then the individual family garden were essential for survival. Today,
hydroponic farms grow many of the vegetables consumed in RoW, but small truck farms have been and remain very
important to the food market. Fruit, especially melons, are important to the diet and grown year-'round. Cereal
grains and corn are largely imported, but canola, soy and legumes are important. Potatoes were imported until
the 1960s, when the practice of growing "kelp" potatoes was perfected. The latter are grown in shallow furrows
in the surface lava, 10-18 inches deep and a foot or more wide. These furrows occur naturally and are common on
flows. The furrows are filled with new soil and planted with potatoes. Kelp is then piled over the plantings to
a depth of 10-15 inches. The shallow soil supports the root system of the plants and potatoes form above ground
in the kelp. After the potatoes are harvested the thin soil and kelp are turned and the kelp integrates into the
soil as compost.
Food importers would have long ago taken over the economy had the government not stepped in to regulate
returns in this sector. This is the only sector thus regulated.
While the RoW has been a net importer of food ever since it's population reached 100,000 and is unlikely
to ever become completely self-sufficient, domestic food sources are extremely important to the economy and
psychological well-being of the nation.
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Mining
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Mining activities are divided into four categories. The first is and always has been the quarrying of
building materials -- the dressing of building stones from the vast lava deposits and quarrying limestone for
cement. The second category is the mining of metals. RoW has decent deposits of nickle, aluminum, chromium,
zinc, and lead. The third category is precious metals -- gold, silver and some platinum. The fourth and final
category of mining is for precious stones -- primarily sapphires, but also some very nice emeralds. Lake Kimberly
is being explored for diamonds, some of which have indeed been found.
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Industries
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In addition to categories already mentioned which could be described as industries, five additional types
of industries are important to RoW.
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Ship Building
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Ship building has been an important occupation since the original settlers found themselves shipwrecked in
a desolate, inhospitable land. Fishing boats were the primary crafts constructed, but naval ships identical to
the the HMS Staleworthy, the country's first naval vessel (see History), were constructed on occasion.
These were all wooden vessels until the 1920s, when steel-hulled ships were first built in RoW. However, ship-
building pursued the state-of-the-arts following World War II and RoW has one of the most modern navies in the
world.
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Auto Assembly
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Wyneries has never produced an indigenous automobile, but several foreign auto manufacturers have built
assembly plants in RoW. Among these are Ford Motor Company of America, Toyota Motor Company of Japan, and Land
Rover of England.
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Glass and Optics
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A large glass industry continues to flourish in RoW. The first glass was made for window closures, but the
need for wine bottles emerged shortly after the first settlers arrived and, except for the period of Japanese
occupation, has steadily risen year by year. But very fine optical glass is also produced and is a major export
commodity -- both finished to order or as blanks.
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Wool and Textiles
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A large yarn and textile industry has grown up around the city of Shearing based on wool. The local
consumption is for wool rugs, but thousands of tons of wool fabric are exported.
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Winemaking Support
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The RoW is one of the world's leaders in the manufacture of winemaking equipment and supplies -- cooperage,
presses, crusher/destemmers, active dry wine yeast strains, tannins, enzymes, chemicals, etc.
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High Technology
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Almost all scientific research in RoW is performed by or funded by the RoW Navy (RoWN).
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Signals and Radar
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Scientists at the Grapeshot Naval Academy seized on telegraphic, telephonic and wireless technologies almost
as soon as their discoveries were known. The great secret of radar was shared by the British Royal Navy as soon
as it was understood. The RoW's main interest was for its vast fishing fleet and its Navy, but when the Japanese
invaded Wyneries in early 1942 all evidence of the existence of radar had been buried. It was resurrected after
the war and RoW became one of the world's leaders in radar and communicative signals technologies.
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Guidance and GPS
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The RoWN has underwritten research and manufacture of guidance and GPS technologies in support of its
long-range aviation and missile capabilities.
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Pharmaceuticals
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The pharmaceutical industry in RoW grew out of the research conducted by the medical department of the RoWN.
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Missiles
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Although RoWN buys it's long-range aviation craft from abroad, its missile assets are all indigenously
designed and produced. These include antiship, antiaircraft and antimissile missiles.
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Service Sectors
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All of the traditional service sectors exist in RoW, although some employ more people than others, some
generate more revenue than others, and some are simply more important to the country than others, but the lesser
sectors are in no way inconsequential. The various sectors include:
- Banking
- Business Services
- Education
- Healthcare
- Hotels/Motels
- Information Services
- Insurance
- Leisure/Recreation
- Personal Services
- Public Utilities
- Real Estate
- Restaurants
- Retail
- Service & Repairs
- Social Services
- Tourism
- Waste Disposal
Technically, government is also a service sector, but since it is considered important enough to merit its
own page (listed at the left) it will not be listed here.
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