New Hokkaido’s Economic Independence: The Numbers Don’t Lie

New Hokkaido Colony announced yesterday it would cease remitting tax revenues to the Earth Unified Council, effective immediately. The colony’s Administrator Chen called it “temporary fiscal adjustment.” The manifest doesn’t match the cargo.

I’ve seen this freight manifest before. Three times, actually.

The numbers tell the real story. New Hokkaido produces 847,000 tonnes of rare earth elements annually, valued at 2.3 billion Standard Galactic Credits. Earth’s Terran Intelligence Bureau estimates administrative oversight costs at 890 million SGC yearly - nearly 40% of gross colonial output.

“We’re not rebels,” Administrator Chen told me via neural-link yesterday. “We’re accountants.”

The Galactic Central Bank’s latest credit dilution makes the arithmetic even clearer. With prime lending rates at 23%, colonies need to service debt while shipping 40% of output to Earth as “administrative fees.” Free, they said. I checked the fine print - nowhere does it mention who services the compound interest.

Earth Network News frames this as “colonial ingratitude.” That’s one version of events. Another version: when your shipping costs exceed your payload value, you find new routes.

The Solar Defense Compact deployed three cruisers to “monitor the situation.” Each cruiser costs 12 million SGC monthly to operate. Nobody ever asks what it costs to enforce economic arrangements at gunpoint across seventeen light-years.

New Hokkaido isn’t alone. Titan Station reduced Earth remittances by 60% last quarter, citing “technical difficulties with transfer protocols.” Europa Colony hasn’t responded to Earth communications in four months. The outer rim stations stopped filing economic reports entirely.

I hauled cargo to these settlements when they were survey camps. Watched them grow from prefab shelters to self-sustaining operations. The pattern repeats: Earth provides initial investment, settlers provide labor and innovation, colonies achieve self-sufficiency, Earth demands perpetual tribute.

The Ceres Exchange opened 15% higher this morning on news of New Hokkaido’s declaration. Frontier independence bonds are trading at premium rates. Smart money recognizes economic reality faster than politicians.

A Terran Intelligence Bureau source, speaking anonymously, confirmed three more colonies are “reviewing their fiscal obligations.” Translation: running the same calculations Chen’s accountants ran.

The Earth Unified Council promises “appropriate measures” to maintain “system stability.” Appropriate for whom. Stable for what.

Distance creates its own economics. Light-speed communications mean four-hour delays for simple transactions. Physical enforcement requires fuel, personnel, equipment - all priced in SGC while colonies develop alternative currencies.

Every successful colony eventually asks the same question Chen’s asking: why ship our prosperity to people who never shared our risks?

I can’t answer that question. But I can report that seventeen other frontier settlements are asking it too.