
    Vehko ( 1715 B665655-A S Ag Ni Ri )                          circa 1116

    Vehko has  adopted an economic principle  that sets it apart  from many
    worlds in the Imperium. On Vehko there  is no income tax, instead it is
    the  use of  resources, by  individuals or  companies, that  is heavily
    taxed. This has had two main  effects. Firstly companies are careful to
    use  the lower  taxed renewable  resources, and  not to damage existing
    resources  through  pollution  (  which  is  counted  as  "part use" ).
    Secondly since manpower is cheap  but machinery is not, many production
    processes  are  conducted  using   traditional  labour  intensive,  and
    generally  environmentally  friendly,  methods.  Since agriculture fits
    better with such  an economy than manufacturing it  is no surprise that
    Vehko  has  developed  primarily  as  an  agricultural  world. Visiting
    traders often remain in orbit to  avoid the punative resource taxes for
    spacecraft. The key exports are unprocessed agricultural goods, and the
    most popular imports are resource intensive machinery and vehicles.

    David Burden (david@innocom.demon.co.uk)

