Could the WW have something like a credit crunch?

[moonlite_tryst]

I'm not an economist and only have the vaguest idea about things such as GDP, inflation, deflation, customs and excise, but I do get that countries survive by trading with other countries, providing a marketable product or service, or selling a natural resource in demand by others. A ridiculously simple overview I know..

Which leads me to my questions:

How do you think the wizarding world economy works?

Do Uk wizards trade with other communities around the world and what do you think the UK wizards could offer?

Do galleons rise and fall in price like other monetary systems? Would Voldemort's actions have had a negaive impct on the WW economy?

How does Gringott's operate?

Do the goblins charge their human customers and would they have something like the Muggle money markets to make a profit on all that gold etc sitting in their vaults?

Could famillies like the Malfoys, Blacks and Potters have amassed their fortunes by taking advantage of generations of Muggle labour or Muggle ambition, such as trading in tea, porcelain, opium etc?

I'm thinking this gathering of wealth on the back of Muggle labour is very likely because there must've been Muggle borns throughout the centuries. Would the heir to a grand estate been made to renounce his title because he was a wizard?

Thoughts?

Comments

[moonlite-tryst.livejournal.com]

Very interesting entry, although some of it lost me. I didn't know they could transfigure gold. You're absolutely correct, they'd valueless for trade. maybe it's like a fools gold: shiny on the outside, but worthless.

Therefore galleons can either not be made of gold, or gold can't be transfigured, or galleons only have value outside the WW.

I'd say that gold can't be transfigured because if galleons only have value outside the WW, then Harry is not as wealthy as hagrid led him to believe.

As for Muggle trade, what you say is an excellent point for the ww as it stands in the 20th century. I was thinking they could've gained their wealth in the past, say the Tudor period, before the seperation of both worlds when great fortunes were made from the voyages of exploration.