Economy of the Federated Polynesian States
The economy of the Federated Polynesian States combines an essentially subsistence economy, and the enduring practice of a gift economy, with some aspects of a market economy. Tourism also plays a significant role.
The arrival of Christian missionaries in 1819 heralded new economic, market-oriented ideas in the islands of what would soon become the Federated Polynesian States, but Western economic notions were slow to take hold. For over a hundred and fifty years, the islanders steadfastedly retained their traditional economic practices.
These were grounded in a subsistence economy and skilful management of the islands' ressources. Islanders grew vegetables and fruit, and drew food from the ocean. They were careful never to over-exploit those ressources, and not to take more than they needed; conservationist practices were strictly enforced by local ahiki (chiefs).
There was no money, and no bartering. The islands were self-sufficient enough to meet their inhabitants' needs. Food was distributed equally within a village and its surroundings, and any excess produce was offered freely to neighbouring villages. It was expected that those villages would reciprocate in times of need, but there was no formal expectation of a counter-gift within a given timeframe. The emphasis was on sharing and communal solidarity.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, Western influences began to filter into the islands. Radio, television and foreign media reached the burgeoning towns, introducing the islanders to foreign ideas and customs. The tiny Apawa International airport was opened in 1979, marking the beginning of the FPS as a tourist destination. This affected mainly the island of Orowu, and especially the town of Apawa itself, but some tourists visited even the most far-flung islands, encountering islanders who had sometimes never seen non-Polynesians before.
Apawa began to adapt to an increasing inflow of tourists. A service sector for tourists developed, based on services - taxis, hotels, banks, restaurants - in exchange for cash. The Polynesian pound, the national currency, had seen little use amidst the islanders until then, but now began to prove useful.
It is difficult to refer to this economy as a market economy, however, as the concepts of profit and greed still have very little meaning to Federal Polynesians. Hoarding wealth is virtually unheard of. Tourists are almost never overcharged for services, and are sometimes startled when Apawans decide not to charge them at all. Cash earned through services and goods sold to tourists is distributed throughout the earner's extended family, and sometimes beyond. It has found its place as a continuation of a gift economy, rather than as a threat to traditional economic practices. Islanders, on the whole, seem unconcerned with acquiring material wealth and belongings.
Outside Apawa, money is hardly ever used, and the economy remains subsistence-based as it was two centuries ago. Even in Apawa itself, inhabitants still grow (and fish) their own food, in gardens belonging to their extended family. They will occasionally use cash to visit the country's only supermarket, but usually only for a treat, to organise a large meal for family and neighbours, to purchase a gift for someone, or if they have acquired a particular taste for some foreign product.
