Saga How much money did the CIS have access to?

Im helping someone out with making "a what if" video on youtube and i need to find sources that talk about how the CIS leadership was built up and mostly how much money the CIS hade accese to. It dose not need to be an exact number but it needs to be something in that ballpark

 

Their leadership was partially made of up of the (presumably) wealthy Count Dooku, the Trade Federation, and the Corporate Alliance. All these names imply rich groups, but actual value figures for any of the groups have not been revealed.

It's hard to gauge the total value of the Seps, especially after they funnel all their money into building up the Droid armies and ships.

We see the Republic suffering under debt from loans to pay for the Clone Army, while the CIS are able to make a loan for more Droids much more casually, implying that they are the richer of the two sides in the war. Though, this may have just been strategic timing of the loan, to make the Republic scared, along with the terror attack, to make them seem a bigger threat so that the Republic takes out a similar loan.

 

Don't forget the Banking Clan was in there too (in the scene in AOTC where they all pledge allegiance to Dooku). They'd have had access to wealth.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot them.

Though TCW also confusingly muddies the waters by making San Hill some kind of offshoot, and having a separate neutral Banking Clan. But the weird neutral Sep groups thing it has going on has always been the weirdest thing in that show. I've never really understood the reasoning behind it.

 

Supposedly. Dooku financed the clones by himself. If he'd just done that he could have taken over the Republic by himself at Sidious's expense.

 

Apparently Lucas wanted to explore the idea of how large corporations, inherently having no loyalties to anything other than the almighty dollar, often profiteer off of both sides of a war.

It's not that complicated. Leaders like Nute Gunray and San Hill signed a treaty with Count Dooku in AOTC pledging the resources of their respective commerce guilds to the Separatist cause, but TCW reveals that in practice the commerce guilds still made an attempt to remain partially in the Republic so as not to lose access to those markets--because they're just so damn greedy they're not willing to make any more of a sacrifice than they absolutely need to for the cause. But in reality, even the Republic-aligned factions of the commerce guilds are secretly aiding and abetting their counterpart factions within the Separatist fold. Despite what the nominally Republic-aligned factions say, there's no real division between them, which becomes increasingly clear to the Republic over the course of the series.

 

Over ONE HUNDRED monies!

 

Well, there was Count Dooku's family wealth, and greedy corporations like the Trade Federation, Banking Clan, Corporate Alliance, Techno Union, and Commerce guild. We're talking quadrillions of Galactic Credits here, I'm pretty sure.

 

The issue though is that this doesn't fit with what the live action films showed. That Dooku tricked the various large guilds to be full into a promised quick and easy victory offering a high NPV on their investment and instead be caught in a major war for their own survival. I doubt Sids would want any neutral guilds that could lead to peace talks, he wanted both sides to be too busy pounding each other to see the big picture. In ROTS, the various guild leaders are pretty much on the run and are hunted men which is what the meeting between GG and the CIS council indicates. But then again, TCW often did a lot of thing different from the films such as having low attitude gunship aircraft fly in space.

The CIS and its member trade guilds would have had a lot of money and resources and were a threat to the Sith. This is why Sids planned to eliminate them and nationalize trade.

 

The movies just show the leaders of the guilds signing a treaty with Dooku in AOTC, and then those same leaders on the run in ROTS. A viewer would indeed assume that the entirety of the guilds' resources were pledged to the Separatists, and this is perfectly sufficient for an understanding of the plot if all you're doing is watching the films.

What TCW does is simply provide more depth to the situation, something which the films didn't have the time or a need for, but which the show does. As the show goes on, the pretense of neutrality is increasingly shown to be a farce, and I'm sure that if the show had been allowed to finish then it would have concluded with the pretense completely shattering.

Sidious's aim is simply to tear the Republic apart and accumulate more power for himself. The "neutrality" of the guilds never presented any real opportunity for peace talks because they aren't actually neutral. They're just pretending to be. There's no way he would have ever been able to trick the entirety of the trade guilds into sacrificing half of their market share for the sake of a risky war that may not turn out the way they want it to. Any large corporation is going to hedge its bets. The only ideology corporations care about is the pursuit of maximum profit at all costs, while taking the least amount of risk possible. And as TCW shows, Palpatine actually takes advantage of the commerce guilds' official neutrality to take control of the Banking Clan and thereby ensconce himself as the supreme power ruling over the galaxy's monetary institutions.

 

That is the thing, the films were sufficient in most parts, and while TCW does expand on some elements, it also changes other elements just to have an excuse for a episode plot which the neutral guilds are an example of changing plot elements in order to have the episode work. Take for example the different leadership structure the CIS has in TCW and in the films. In the films, the CIS council is made up of the heads of the various major guilds, a corporate government. While in TCW, it is a large senate instead with many representatives instead and does not match what the films show. The corporations that make up the CIS are qusi-government corporations that outright rule their trade planets very similar to the East Indie Company.

With corporations, they have a duty to maximize shareholder value, even by taking on risk as investors often look down on companies that are too conservative with risk taking. In fact there is a term called "the agency problem" when executives and CEOs are too conservative on taking risks to secure their positions at shareholders' expense. A basic principle of business and investing is that you can't get more reward without taking on more risk, nor can you offer higher risk investments without a higher reward. Dooku offered a quick and easily quick sneak attack and victory if they joined him and pooled their armies together, unaware the Republic had a clone army in the wings. With a quick victory, they could achieve their free trade and be free of governmental interference in trade such as the trade taxes from TPM. Though such businessmen should have recognized that such a large reward was greater than the risk Dooku proposed and should have been more skeptical of him.

The films show that the guilds are not just merely signing a treaty, but pledging their full resources to the cause such as their private armies. One leader questions if what they are doing construed as treason, acknowledging that this is an all or nothing situation. This is further exemplified by Wat stating
"The Techno Union army...
[ Electronic Warbling ]
is at your disposal, Count."


TPM establishes that the Republic has begun to interfere with trade and is attempting to control the guilds, which they are not happy about and probably are concerned with further government encroachment on free enterprise. This is why I can't see them providing aid to the Republic as they are fighting for their economic freedom to maximize their value, the Republic is very much their enemy. Especially as by the OT, their worse fears are becoming true as the Empire, a twisted Republic begins to sweep away free enterprise which Biggs warns Luke about. This is where the heros on both sides comes from, they believe they are fighting for their vary futures and the reward from victory is very great and appeals to their greed.

Sids aim is more than tearing the Republic apart, it is also eliminating any and all opposition to his power and dominance. The guilds are a great economic power that are a threat to his dreams of a Sith Empire, as are the Jedi are a threat. So he has his two enemies fight and rip each other apart, and once they both are weakened, he strikes and destroys both. Sids goal is to control everything, hence why in ANH he is sweeping away the senate and free enterprise.