Alternative Economics in Traveller

It is no accident that the Imperium will subsidize merchant hulls with extended jump range, Jump 3 vessels (being the most wildly recognized). These higher performance vessels are more expensive to build and also lose a greater proportion of their interior space to larger drives along with the bigger fuel tanks needed to support the Jump drive. This means that there is less space available to cargo or passenger transport with the result that the vessel's revenue generating potential is severely reduced when compared to lower jump rated vessels. Also Imperial Tradition with its strange per parsec rates charged for transport of goods and passengers per single jump means that all vessels charge the same price for the same amount of time the goods spend in the hold. Thus higher performance vessels can't easily charge more for a longer range trip than a lower performance merchant would for equivalent time in the hold. This is advantageous to the shipper but not the ship owner. Examining these economic rules means that only an idiot would purchase a vessel with performance greater than 1 parsec per jump due to the fact that the increased investment would not result in an increase in profits.

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