Economics+and+Development

=Economics and Development:=

An analysis of the D&D price Structure
Recently, I was led to contemplate the flow of cash in a D&D economy and to consider the plausibility of its pricing system. Its precept, according to the authors, is the principle that an unskilled laborer is paid 1sp per diem. An examination of other wages and prices in the system led me to become skeptical of the viability of this model, especially after noticing the price for a pound of wheat--1cp.

After some research, I began to deconstruct the midieval economics of agriculture and learned several important data--first, that ten acres of wheat is near the maximum-size plot that can be expected from a household farm; second, that yeilds remained constant around 12 bushels/acre through the midieval period; and third, around two acres of wheat were sufficient as the base nourishment for a household of four.

In modern times, a bushel of wheat has been standardized to a mass of 60lb, meaning that an average yield for an acre was 720lbs. of wheat. The //Britannica// was kind enough to tell me that seeding amounted to between 20 and 100lb/acre, and noted that hand-spreading was 'wasteful.' Thus, we will assume that midieval farmers were 'wasteful' and used 100lb/acre for seeding, which leaves us 620 lb, leaving a gross of 7200lb. for all ten acres, 6400 after seeding, and 5120 after we deduct the produce of the two acres needed for sustenance. This leaves a cash value of 51.2 gp available to a peasant household in a good year.

From this, we must deduct taxation. Serfs commonly only recieved between a third and two thirds their produce, but we will be more generous and assume that the state has a power structure that is friendlier to the household farmer, as is implied in Breland. Thus, we will be kind and only assume a mere 10% taxation of the peasant's gross product, or 7.2gp, leaving 44 gp.

Peasants commonly bank against failure, and a stock of reserve food would only last so long; let us presume that about 1/5th of a year's sustenance is saved against lean times in a given harvest. This amounts to 2.56 gp worth of grain, leaving 41.44.

Operating a farm requires draught animals, a plough, and the shoeing and care of those animals. Let us be generous and assume this cost is a mere 1/5th of the cost of a team of oxen, or 6gp, leaving our peasants with 35.44 gp.

They will certainly need fuel to keep them warm in the winter months, as well as to cook with. A&EG tells us that 50lbs of local lumber costs 1gp, and that is what they'll have to pay in regions where the forest is crown property or the region is already deforested. We will be kind and assume they only need 200lbs. of fuel, but this seems a bit fantastic. Now they are left with 31.44 gp.

Our little houshold of four needs shoes to work in and clothes to wear. They are peasants, after all, so let's suppose they wear through two sets of linen breeches and shirts a year. They could lower themselves to sackcloth, but, they're freedmen, or that's what we're working off of. They'll also need at least one pair of new shoes each. Altogether this will cost them 2.8 gp for the family, leaving 28.64 gp.

Let's stop here. Yes, they haven't built or maintained their house or barn, nor have they tithed to a church, and they haven't bought any niceties like salt, which is critical for the preservation of meat and the maintenance of sanity against the tide of bland food. But here, we've considered all the greatest expenses involved in the actual production and residence of the farm. There is certainly a great deal of productive labor going on within the home, vegetable gardening, chicken rasing, goatherding, and so on, that may or may not reach the market. But what is the core of these peasants' lives, so let us see what is left.

28.64/4=7.16 gp for each member of the household, for the year's production of wheat. Now, let us be a bit more realistic and assume that they are taxed 20%. Given all the problems with orcs and such, one needs to have some security. Then, each member of the household is left with 5.36gp for the year.

This may seem like a pittance compared to the wages of the day-laborer, but the peasant is free to build his house, seek day labor in the winter, weave homespun cloth, and if a nearby market is available, sell vegetablees, foraged mushrooms, handicrafts, and butter, in contrast to the twelve-hour slog of a porter or ditch-digger.

Ironically, it would seem that 1cp/pound accurately simulates the peasants' lifestyle, and our analysis can tell us the amount of cash available at the agricultural base of the economy.

Redux
After some reading in //Making a Living in the Middle Ages// by Christopher Dyer, there are some data worth mentioning: 1) It could really only be expected that wheat would yield between 3 and 4 times that sown. 2) Half of land was typically held fallow. With thirty acres, this is a reasonalbe 15acres to cultivate, but as population increased and smallholding proliferated, the majority of population lived at or near 15 acres in total. 3) All told, a peasant with a full yardland (30ac) could expect a ratio of 6 grain reserved for seed: 10 reserved to feed the family: 7 for sale.

Peasants owed something near 170 days a year in labor to their lord on the demense, plus cash rents. Sometimes the ratio between these differed; and there are certainly many means by which rents decreased; as smallholding proliferated, rents held constant, and rents were shared over more people engaged in non-agricultural activities.

Let's play out the scenario again, with ten acres. Only 7 in 23 parts are set aside from the 7200lb product, or 2,191 lbs, or 22 gp.