Private Sector and Factory Satellites

[RedWolf]

Here is what we know... The UNG or NUNG has a number of factory satellites stolen from the Zentradi and the economy is pretty much capitalistically driven that corporations are integral to the production of emigration fleets and military goods.

Case in point General Galaxy is credited for production and design of Macross 5 and Macross 7 while Macross Galaxy is heavily financed construction.

Heavy production capacity can be attributed to factory satellites.

So how does it work?

Theoretically it is like a public works project bidding.

Though as we've seen General Galaxy tends to dominate the market almost akin to a monopoly.

Factory satellites are automated in nature but as seen needs maintenace. Ideally these are nationalized infrastructure due to their security status but given the power of corporations said by Kawamori I think factory satellite are run as public insfractructure projects maintained by the private sector. Basically the government either pays corporations to run factory satellites or the reverse corporations leases them.

[thegunny]

I'm sure McDonalds has a hand in it somewhere. The Golden Arches are everywhere

[JB0]

You mean MacrossNalds, right?

[sketchley]

Case in point General Galaxy is credited for production and design of Macross 5 and Macross 7 while Macross Galaxy is heavily financed construction.

Keep in mind that the OTEC corp (or one of it's branches or subsiduaries) became General Galaxy. It'll help explain things.

[Roy Focker]

You mean MacrossNalds, right?

McDonald also exists in the Macross Universe (see DYRL?).

[Mr March]

"When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks."

All just speculation of course, but I think the actual factory satellites would remain federally owned properties, probably run by crown corporations. Companies like General Galaxy, Shinsei Industries and the like would no doubt acquire lease agreements with the owning crown corps to use portions of a factory satellite for mass production. Of course, it's likely tens of thousands of companies are vying for the same chance from EVERY sector of the economy. It'd probably be a rather complex array of contract arrangements, with the usual politics thrown in to further complicate the matter.

What would be interesting would be the location of those factory satellites. Where are they stationed? Official trivia states "some" factory satellites have fold drives, meaning not all of them do. With the UN Spacy/NUNS holding multiple factory satellites, one has to suspect some of those seizures involved immobile satellites. There could be a few locations far away from the UNS/NUNS sphere of influence that are functioning as satellite economies for Earth

Of course, it's possible they could affix fold drives to immobile satellites, but who knows?

[dreamweaver13]

"When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks."

All just speculation of course, but I think the actual factory satellites would remain federally owned properties, probably run by crown corporations. Companies like General Galaxy, Shinsei Industries and the like would no doubt acquire lease agreements with the owning crown corps to use portions of a factory satellite for mass production. Of course, it's likely tens of thousands of companies are vying for the same chance from EVERY sector of the economy. It'd probably be a rather complex array of contract arrangements, with the usual politics thrown in to further complicate the matter.

What would be interesting would be the location of those factory satellites. Where are they stationed? Official trivia states "some" factory satellites have fold drives, meaning not all of them do. With the UN Spacy/NUNS holding multiple factory satellites, one has to suspect some of those seizures involved immobile satellites. There could be a few locations far away from the UNS/NUNS sphere of influence that are functioning as satellite economies for Earth

Of course, it's possible they could affix fold drives to immobile satellites, but who knows?

I would theorize a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme. Privatization would be crucial in getting the ball rolling. So, originally the federal government would "exproriate" a factory sattelite, but private entities and their funds would be necessary to convert/develop the factory into something usable to space colonization project. The private entity will build, then operate the factory sattelite until it makes a pre-arranged profit margin, and then ownership would eventually revert back to the UEG.

I would suppose any new "expropriation" of a newly discovered factory sattellite -- even if discovered by a privately owned fleet -- would not be made without the express approval of the government. Thus, any new acquisition should still be covered by a BOT arrangement. A finders-keepers system would just be to divisive, dangerous, and would might lead to all-out civil war somewhere along the line.

Absolutely no basis for this theory, of course, but one can speculate.

[JB0]

McDonald also exists in the Macross Universe (see DYRL?).

But they're obviously a cheap knockoff. For the REAL cheap hamburger experience, you want a Macrossnalds!

[Cyclone Trooper]

But they're obviously a cheap knockoff. For the REAL cheap hamburger experience, you want a Macrossnalds!

Nah...if you want a true cheap hamburger experience on the DYRL SDF-1 that'd be Humburger Po Po (actual spelling; look it up). All the pop idols eat there!

Edited June 2, 2010 by Cyclone Trooper

[Zinjo]

I would theorize a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme. Privatization would be crucial in getting the ball rolling. So, originally the federal government would "exproriate" a factory sattelite, but private entities and their funds would be necessary to convert/develop the factory into something usable to space colonization project. The private entity will build, then operate the factory sattelite until it makes a pre-arranged profit margin, and then ownership would eventually revert back to the UEG.

I would suppose any new "expropriation" of a newly discovered factory sattellite -- even if discovered by a privately owned fleet -- would not be made without the express approval of the government. Thus, any new acquisition should still be covered by a BOT arrangement. A finders-keepers system would just be to divisive, dangerous, and would might lead to all-out civil war somewhere along the line.

Absolutely no basis for this theory, of course, but one can speculate.

It could be a combination of both systems, where the UNG would retain ownership of the equipment and lease out its capabilities to recoup any costs associated with securing and / or restoring the satellite. I highly doubt the UNG would "sell" (even temporarily) such a valued and potentially dangerous asset to a private firm. The government itself would not run the construction operations, but through private contracts have influence over the activities in the facilities.

The last thing anyone would want is for a multi-systemic corporation like General Galaxy to "own" their very own factory satellite. That kind of power could destabilize whole regions of the colonized galaxy.

[sketchley]

I'd be careful about speculating - especially if one limits oneself to only the political economic paradigm of their native country. Japan has it's own political economic paradigm, and Macross has largely followed that.

Ie: the (New) Unified Government of Macross is not as egalitarian, nor as capitalist nor socialist as some may have us believe.

[Bri]

I completely agree with Sketchley here, the way Macross portrays the economy is pretty much a futuristic version of modern Japan.

Also it's probably best not to reflect to much upon these satellites. They are just a story device to help explain the rapid recovery/expansion, working much like the "horn of plenty" in literature. If looked at from an economic perspective, we end up getting very strange effects in regard to the determinants of growth and scarcity effects that would change the economy in to something completely unrecognizable to us.

[dreamweaver13]

I'd be careful about speculating - especially if one limits oneself to only the political economic paradigm of their native country. Japan has it's own political economic paradigm, and Macross has largely followed that.

True, that. But I wouldn't have even brought it up as a possibility if i didn't check first that Japan also makes use of a BOT structure (at least that's what wikipedia says, so that could could be completely wrong, of course). But as i said, it's completely speculation; and as bri pointed out, has little to no bearing on the macross story in general.

[sketchley]

I'm getting strange results when I google BOT structure. Can you provide a link to the source article/what BOT means?

(Feeling a bit shamed that my Google searching skills failed me)

[dreamweaver13]

I'm getting strange results when I google BOT structure. Can you provide a link to the source article/what BOT means?

(Feeling a bit shamed that my Google searching skills failed me)

here ya go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Build_operate_transfer