Tachy-Capital

Text by Geoff Hinkley (View his comment)

A word that became popular in the 2060s as a way of distinguishing the new global, high-speed economy from the Consolidations of the earlier part of the 21st Century.

Whilst a number of megalithic Consolidations have survived into the modern era - most notably General American and Asahi-Mitsui - they are working ever harder just to hold on in the speed-of-light economy and are themselves adopting Tachy-Capitalistic principals to maintain their viability.

Tachy-Capital is best described as fluid - company ownership, real and intellectual property rights, debts, options and personnel are all traded on the frantic e-commercial exchanges. Investment trusts manage enormous portfolios composed of thousands of different stocks each representing meagre shards of small nimble entrepreneurial companies that coalesce out of the Tachy-Capital sea to make a fast profit for their shareholders and directors before demerging and dissolving once again.

Whilst Tachy-Capital represents an evolution from the Consolidations comparable with the ascendance of mammals over the dinosaurs, this brings problems of its own. Whilst corruption is selected against - companies need every edge they can just to survive the lightning markets - the complex nature of the stocks and bonds traded across the world's telecoms system means that it is very difficult for the regional legal authorities or, for that matter, the GSSA to trace ownership and culpability. This has allowed a number of criminal groups to gain a foothold in the world economy - the Mafia, Yakuza, Moskva-Kapitalists, Ha Aheret David, the Columbian Cartels to name but a few. The ruthless nature of Tachy-Capital and the involvement of such groups means that violence is becoming an ever more common tool for influencing the markets.

The GSSA are monitoring such trends closely and, since the Deutsche Industrien incident of 2064, have deployed intervention forces against corporate-funded paramilitaries on more than 20 occasions. Corporate violence, though, looks set to increase as Tachy-Capital becomes ever more dynamic, ruthless and convoluted.

However, Tachy-Capital represents a reality and will be around to stay. The genie is out of the bottle. And most people feel that the enormous prosperity and technological drive that the world enjoys is directly the result of the Tachy-Capital model. A knee-jerk reaction against the uncertain and cut-throat world of Tachy-Capital would also deny the wealth of benefits that it has brought.