[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by maximara

Then why have things like Realm Management? :-)

Paragraph three of GURPS Ream Management, with my own emphasis:

Though this supplement presents a kind of a mini-game that one could, if so inclined, use to run simulations of kingdoms and nations, that isn’t what it’s for! It’s meant for campaigns that emulate certain types of fiction and pop culture, and shouldn’t be trotted out as yet another thing on the players’ “to do” list.

There's your answer right there. Just as I described with money, the purpose of GURPS Realm Management is to provide players with what they need to interact with a realm that works the way the GM wants. If the GM wants realms that use leaves as legal tender but nobody seems to notice how illogical and unworkable this is, GURPS Realm Management will support it.

"$1 equates roughly with the amount of local currency needed to buy a loaf of bread or equivalent staple" B (Basic Set 27) which is likely taken from "From century to century, corn (grain) is a better measure than silver, because, from century to century, equal quantities of corn (grain) will command the same quantity of labour more nearly than equal quantities of silver." (Adam Smith Wealth of Nations)

There you go again, not understanding the purpose of GURPS $. It is not a currency; it is an exchange rate. Characters do not possess $; they possess local currency. In an inflating economy, the local currency changes value, but the $ price remains fixed. $ is not silver, and $ is not corn. $ is absolutely fixed, completely disregarding the actual power of any given person to afford a loaf of bread.

But in a magical world with things like the Food College exist food (including "corn") can be insanely cheap.

IF you care about emulating this effect, then you can change the price of food. Individual $ prices are not absolute; the value of $ is. If everything goes up in price, then you don't need to change $ prices; just change the exchange rate into local currency. If one thing becomes more expensive, change its $ price without changing the exchange rate of $.

But the existence of the Create Food spell will only affect food prices if the GM wants it to. If the GM would rather have ordinary food prices coexisting with the Create Food spell, then they do. There's no supply and demand behind all this; you just make up what you want.

Create Food (2 per meal for organic, 30 seconds) and Essential Food (3 per meal for organic, 30 seconds) are cheap in terms of casting and if you can use ceremonial casting things get totally ridiculous.

You can make as many economic citations as you like; it doesn't change the fact that GURPS $ doesn't change with inflation or other economic forces, because in an imaginary setting, those forces would have to be entirely imaginary too. The only thing that causes any economic effects in a game is the GM's will that it be so.