The Economics of John Wick

I recently rewatched the John Wick series, and I realized this is the only world I've seen where they have a completely different view of money than the everyday world. Even Star Trek just takes Communism to it's logical extreme, and doesn't do anything unique or imaginative with money. So here's a brief essay on how the economy of John Wick differs from our own.

TL;DR All goods and services are free, but access costs 100% loyalty. Debts are unique, nontransferable, and are potentially worth everything the Debtor owns, but are also limited in ways they are not in our world.

The question of how money works in the John Wick world has been asked a few times, and every time they seem to miss the point entirely. Everyone seems to want to know how much coins are worth. What can one coin buy? That’s the wrong way of looking at it. Another way of asking the question is, what do things in John Wick’s world cost? That answer is a little easier. Everything is free. Not outside the world of The Continental, of course, but everything within and everything related, is free.

That’s an odd thing to say. We see John and others exchange Coins for goods and services, but not directly. Sure, you might exchange a coin for a drink, but you get the impression if you have one drink, or are at the bar all night, it's still just a single Coin. The Coin doesn't buy you the drink. It buys access to the bar. But you can't use a Coin to directly buy anything. Any more than Sir Elton John could trade his knighthood for a beer.

Coins do resemble currency in some ways. One Coin, much like one Dollar, equals exactly one Coin. They are completely interchangeable. Unlike, say, a diamond, which has multiple ways of measuring quality and value. But what a Coin actually buys is access to the criminal underworld. Once inside, everything is free. At many points within this world, you need to re-prove your bona fides with another Coin. Having a great deal of Coins just means you can stay in this world indefinitely, with access to safety, luxuries, necessities, everything. A true “Free” Market.

This raises several questions. One, where does the Continental get all of it’s products? The food, weapons, bedding must come from somewhere. Presumably, there is a layer in this underworld economy that interacts with the every day economy. After all, bounties are offered and paid in dollars, so clearly there is more than one type of currency they work with. The other question is how Coins are put into circulation in the first place. In the everyday economy, dollars are created essentially by banks, and are lent out to other banks, who in turn lend it people and businesses. Money just appears out of thin air, and is immediately put to use. So how do Coins get from the Coiner to the hands of those who “spend” them? It’s unclear exactly, but one potential way would be for the governing body (the “High Table”) to require taxes paid in these Coins. Once they get them, they would melt them down, and provide the raw material to the Coiners. The Coiners would then produce the Coins, then distribute them to the captains and generals of this world, to be used as salary for their employees. We see Winston accept a delivery of Coins, approve them, and say "Put them into circulation." I think what he meant was, "Pay the salaries of those who work for me." It means much the same thing, but putting into circulation implies something more important than simply paying salary, and it's completely within character for Winston to demonstrate his power and responsibility in the most impressive light possible. His employees who receive this salary would not be required to pay taxes, but the businesses would. Why would businesses pay these taxes? The same reason that individuals pay businesses with these Coins. It gives them the right to participate in this world.

So what is a Coin worth? Loyalty. Loyalty to your boss, but we know people can change jobs. John starts out with one family, the Russian gang that also trains wrestlers and ballerinas, and transfers to another, the one he retires from. The more important loyalty is loyalty to the rules of this world. When John retires, he keeps all his coins. These allow him to re-enter without any questions asked. So what are the rules? No business on Continental grounds on pain of death, follow orders, and, just as importantly, a Marker must be repaid.

Markers are the other part of the currency of this world. Whereas Coins are completely interchangeable, Markers are not. When someone needs a favor, a favor that is extremely difficult, costly, and/or important, they put their bloody thumbprint on a Marker, and give that to the person who will provide them with the favor. That persons keeps the Marker (the “Holder”), until such time as they demand the Marker is repaid, in which case they mark it with their own bloody thumbprint, and the debt is settled. This is very different than debts in the everyday world. In our world, there is nothing stopping one person from paying off the debt of another. In addition, debts are repaid on pre-arranged schedules. There is no question what the debtor will owe and when. Hell, debts are often even transferable. There’s nothing stopping the bank that grants a mortgage from selling that mortgage to another bank or investment firm. Markers are, in many ways, completely opposite. They are as unique as fingerprints. The Holder decides when and how the Debtor will settle the debt, and that decision can be made at any time. They can’t be transferred any more than you can give someone else your blood and fingerprint.

In some ways, Markers make a little more sense than debts in our world. In our world, if you go into debt deep enough, suddenly the Debtor finds himself with more sway in the relationship than the Creditor. As the old saying goes “If you owe the bank a million dollars, the bank owns you. If you owe the bank a billion dollars, you own the bank.” One could imagine a world where, after giving someone a Marker, you could repay your debt (when they demand it) by getting a Marker from someone else. But Markers are somewhat public information. We see the governing body of the Continental document a Marker, in much the same way a notary public does. So if you go to get a second Marker, presumably you must do so from this same governing body. There, they will see you already have one on the books, and can decline you the right to get a physical Marker. They can easily stop you from going into a different debt to pay the first. And they should. A Marker Holder can demand everything from the person who's thumbprint is on the Marker. That person already owes everything they have. How can you go into debt further than that? We do all the time in our world. But that wouldn't be possible in John Wick's.

None of this is to say that the economy of John Wick is better than the everyday world. It's just different. I haven't gone through all the implications of treating debt like this, and future films can easily recontextualize the information we've already been given. But I have tremendous respect for the filmmakers for taking something that everyone is completely familiar with, and reimagining it.

Submitted November 30, 2021 at 02:01AM by mugwump https://ift.tt/2ZzEuei