A global economic operating system
Economic Grid connects intelligence, capital and productive capacity through a global network of bounded authority, verified outcomes and accountable commitments.
01Outcome explorer
Choose a scenario and follow it through the grid: objective and constraints, the mandate you would sign, who takes part, how work is checked, how money moves and what survives the project.
A founder’s limited company in Tartu, Estonia — verified to tier V2
Localize a subscription app into nine languages, have consumer law reviewed in four EU markets, and launch with payments and support running within six weeks.
Success means
Constraints the plan must respect
Decisions reserved for the principal
Who funds it
The founder’s company pre-funds €60,000 into escrow at a licensed payment institution. Nothing is committed beyond what is reserved.
Who is responsible
The company answers for decisions inside its mandate. Each provider answers for its own work under contract and its professional cover.
| What is checked | Checked by | Accepted when |
|---|---|---|
| Translations | QA verifier on a different model family, plus 5% human sample | Error rate below the agreed threshold in each language |
| Legal review | Licensed counsel | Signed opinion delivered for each market |
| Payments | Live micro-transactions | Successful end-to-end purchase in each market |
| Support | Service telemetry | First-response time within target for seven days |
Who bears losses
| Missed acceptance criteria | The provider forfeits its holdback |
|---|---|
| Errors found later | The provider’s 90-day warranty and professional cover |
| Regulatory fines | The founder’s company, mitigated by counsel’s liability for negligent advice |
| Obligation | Holder | Funding and duration |
|---|---|---|
| Translation warranties | Studios; claims administered by an estate service | Funded by the 10% holdback · 90 days |
| Localized assets and IP | Assigned to the company at formation | Life of the rights |
| Merchant-of-record relationship | Provider and company | Continues after launch |
| Records and evidence | Record custodian | Statutory retention period |
The enterprise can close only when every surviving obligation has a named holder and funding. Dissolution transfers obligations; it never erases them.
A hardware start-up — verified to tier V2
Design for manufacture, tool, mold and document 5,000 sensor enclosures for CE conformity, and deliver them to warehouses in Rotterdam, Poznań and Dallas within 14 weeks.
Success means
Constraints the plan must respect
Decisions reserved for the principal
Who funds it
The start-up funds tooling and production through milestone escrow; freight is released on delivery events.
Who is responsible
The start-up is manufacturer of record. Each supplier answers for its own work; the toolmaker answers for the mold as custodian.
| What is checked | Checked by | Accepted when |
|---|---|---|
| First article | Independent inspector | Dimensional report within tolerance |
| Production lots | Inspector’s sampling plan | Lot accepted at the agreed quality level |
| Conformity | Accredited test laboratory | Reports support the CE technical file |
| Delivery | Carrier events and warehouse receipts | Signed proof of delivery at each warehouse |
Who bears losses
| Defective lots | The molder: rework, holdback and product cover |
|---|---|
| Transit damage | Cargo insurance |
| Loss of the mold | The toolmaker as custodian |
| Design defects | The start-up as manufacturer |
| Obligation | Holder | Funding and duration |
|---|---|---|
| Mold custody and maintenance | Toolmaker, under a storage contract | Storage fee · until transfer |
| Technical file | Start-up, with a record custodian | Prepaid custody · 10 years |
| Product liability | Start-up as manufacturer | Insurance · statutory period |
| Customer warranties | Start-up | Warranty reserve · per terms |
The enterprise can close only when every surviving obligation has a named holder and funding. Dissolution transfers obligations; it never erases them.
A Dutch importer — verified to tier V3
Buy twelve refrigerated containers of avocados over eight weeks from a Kenyan growers’ cooperative, meeting phytosanitary rules, with temperature evidence for the whole journey and payment against electronic transport documents.
Success means
Constraints the plan must respect
Decisions reserved for the principal
Who funds it
The importer’s bank issues a payment undertaking in favor of the cooperative. The cooperative is paid only against compliant documents.
Who is responsible
The importer answers for its mandate; the cooperative for quality at loading; the carrier for the cold chain in transit, as the temperature evidence shows.
| What is checked | Checked by | Accepted when |
|---|---|---|
| Quality at origin | Inspection company | Certificate for each container |
| Cold chain | Reefer-monitoring provider | Temperature within range for the whole journey |
| Plant health | Competent authority | Valid phytosanitary certificate |
| Documents | Bank and automated checks | Compliant set, including electronic bills of lading where recognized |
| Arrival | Importer’s surveyor | Quality within contract tolerances |
Who bears losses
| Quality failure on arrival | Claims against the cooperative under the sale contract |
|---|---|
| Transit loss | Cargo insurance |
| Temperature breach | Carrier or packer, allocated by the evidence |
| Currency movement | The importer, within its hedging mandate |
| Obligation | Holder | Funding and duration |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance and carriage claims | Importer and insurer | Until legal time bars expire |
| Trade records and documents | Importer and bank | Statutory retention period |
| Cooperative’s verified record | The cooperative — portable | Improves next season’s financing terms |
The enterprise can close only when every surviving obligation has a named holder and funding. Dissolution transfers obligations; it never erases them.
02Architecture
The proposed architecture coordinates globally, decides locally and leaves assets and authority with their owners. Select a component to see what it does, what it needs and what depends on it.
Plane 6Institutional
Plane 5Value & accountability
Plane 4Execution & evidence
Plane 3Markets
Plane 2Intent & authority
Plane 1Knowledge
Mandate & obligation spine — crosses every plane
01Knowledge
Represents participants, capabilities, assets, demand, spare capacity, constraints and track records — with provenance for every claim.
02Intent & authority
Turns an outcome request into a mandate graph with priced, insured and verifiable options, proves the non-expansion invariants and produces a plain-language consequence preview.
03Intent & authority
Identifies persons, entities, agents and machines; issues and checks mandate credentials; records which counterparties and jurisdictions accept which credentials.
04Markets
Lists synthetic actors, human services and machines with their capabilities, prices, performance records and cover.
05Markets
Runs requests for quotes, auctions and bilateral negotiation inside mandate bounds, and forms contracts that reference the mandate.
06Markets
Composes multi-party bundles, critical paths and redundancy, chooses a legal container, and binds cover and capital before any commitment.
07Execution & evidence
Connects software agents, people, robots and factories through adapters and streams milestone events.
08Execution & evidence
Collects tamper-evident evidence, routes checks to independent verifiers and decides acceptance or dispute. No performer certifies its own material work.
09Value & accountability
Settles conditionally across payment rails, nets obligations, manages liquidity and currency, and hosts the capital farm through licensed partners.
10Value & accountability
Allocates liability per mandate, binds cover, holds collateral, sets accountability margin and runs the dispute ladder.
11Institutional
Compiles local law into mandate constraints and performs identity, sanctions, tax and consumer checks at the right points, through locally licensed regional operators.
12Institutional
Sets protocol rules through a foundation, secures keys and agents, monitors the system and contains failures with scoped safe modes.
Oversees every other component: rules, certification, monitoring and emergency containment.
Compiles local law into mandate constraints and performs identity, sanctions, tax and consumer checks at the right points, through locally licensed regional operators.
Inputs: National law and licences; Jurisdiction profiles.
Outputs: Legal constraints in every mandate; Tax withholding instructions; Licensed regional operation.
Depends on: 12 Governance, security, observability & emergency controls.
Proposed componentSets protocol rules through a foundation, secures keys and agents, monitors the system and contains failures with scoped safe modes.
Inputs: Telemetry; Incident reports; Foundation decisions.
Outputs: Protocol versions; Certifications; Circuit breakers and incident registry.
Depends on: Oversees every other component.
Proposed componentSettles conditionally across payment rails, nets obligations, manages liquidity and currency, and hosts the capital farm through licensed partners.
Inputs: Acceptance decisions; Escrow instructions; Capital mandates.
Outputs: Final payments; Holdbacks; Funding for mandates.
Depends on: 08 Evidence & verification · 10 Liability, cover, collateral & disputes · 11 Jurisdictional institutions & compliance.
Proposed componentAllocates liability per mandate, binds cover, holds collateral, sets accountability margin and runs the dispute ladder.
Inputs: Mandates; Exposure data; Evidence.
Outputs: Bound cover; Margin requirements; Dispute outcomes.
Depends on: 08 Evidence & verification · 09 Payments, settlement, treasury & capital · 11 Jurisdictional institutions & compliance.
Proposed componentConnects software agents, people, robots and factories through adapters and streams milestone events.
Inputs: Contracts; Execution mandates.
Outputs: Work performed; Milestone events; Evidence signed at source.
Depends on: 03 Identity, authorization & recognition · 06 Assembly of temporary networks.
Proposed componentCollects tamper-evident evidence, routes checks to independent verifiers and decides acceptance or dispute. No performer certifies its own material work.
Inputs: Milestone events; Documents and sensor data; Inspection results.
Outputs: Acceptance decisions; Disputes; Track-record attestations.
Depends on: 03 Identity, authorization & recognition · 04 Agents & capability markets · 07 Execution.
Proposed componentLists synthetic actors, human services and machines with their capabilities, prices, performance records and cover.
Inputs: Certified agent listings; Capacity offers; Track records.
Outputs: Candidate performers for each mandate.
Depends on: 01 Global economic graph · 03 Identity, authorization & recognition · 10 Liability, cover, collateral & disputes · 12 Governance, security, observability & emergency controls.
Proposed componentRuns requests for quotes, auctions and bilateral negotiation inside mandate bounds, and forms contracts that reference the mandate.
Inputs: Mandates; Candidate performers; Standard terms.
Outputs: Contracts with mandate references; Obligations recorded on the ledger.
Depends on: 02 Outcome compiler · 03 Identity, authorization & recognition · 04 Agents & capability markets · 11 Jurisdictional institutions & compliance.
Proposed componentComposes multi-party bundles, critical paths and redundancy, chooses a legal container, and binds cover and capital before any commitment.
Inputs: Execution offer; Contracts; Cover and capital commitments.
Outputs: Assembled temporary enterprise; Obligation inventory.
Depends on: 05 Discovery, negotiation, pricing & contracting · 09 Payments, settlement, treasury & capital · 10 Liability, cover, collateral & disputes.
Proposed componentTurns an outcome request into a mandate graph with priced, insured and verifiable options, proves the non-expansion invariants and produces a plain-language consequence preview.
Inputs: Outcome request; Graph data; Prices and cover quotes.
Outputs: Execution offers; Mandate drafts with invariant proofs; Consequence preview.
Depends on: 01 Global economic graph · 05 Discovery, negotiation, pricing & contracting · 10 Liability, cover, collateral & disputes · 11 Jurisdictional institutions & compliance.
Proposed componentIdentifies persons, entities, agents and machines; issues and checks mandate credentials; records which counterparties and jurisdictions accept which credentials.
Inputs: Registry data and electronic IDs; Operator credentials; Signed mandates.
Outputs: Verified identities and tiers; Real-time mandate status; Recognition decisions.
Depends on: 11 Jurisdictional institutions & compliance · 12 Governance, security, observability & emergency controls.
Proposed componentRepresents participants, capabilities, assets, demand, spare capacity, constraints and track records — with provenance for every claim.
Inputs: Public registers and filings; Participant submissions; Verified attestations; Completed-obligation records.
Outputs: Discoverable capabilities and constraints; Eligibility data for mandates.
Depends on: 03 Identity, authorization & recognition · 08 Evidence & verification.
Proposed componentMandate & obligation spine — crosses every plane
How the grid separates public, verified and authorized information →
03Mandates
The accountable mandate is the grid’s fundamental unit. It keeps three things apart that software usually blurs: what you want, what you authorize and what you become committed to.
What you want
A result, a budget, a deadline and the constraints that matter. It binds no one.
What you authorize
Bounded, signed and revocable authority. You sign bounds, not steps — every agent and counterparty is held to them.
What you become committed to
Contracts formed inside the mandate with named counterparties, recorded on the ledger with evidence rules and a holder.
The full structure, the chain from objective to settlement, and the six invariants →
04Economic farms
An economic farm is the set of activities and assets that one owner — a person, a family business, a cooperative, a company — controls within the network. The capital farm is its financial subsystem.
Inside its boundary, the owner coordinates its own agents, capital and productive capabilities under its own mandates. Across the boundary, it reaches counterparties, verifiers, capital and cover — always through a mandate, never by default.
05Accountability
A credential is not personhood. An authorized action is not a contract.
Synthetic actors can be economically autonomous inside a mandate. Legal responsibility stays with people and institutions. The grid is built around that separation.
Evidence is checked by someone other than the performer. Material work is never self-certified; checks use a different model family or a human.
Budgets lock when work is delegated, open obligations are margined against cover, and no single model family may carry a whole critical path.
Every commitment traces to a legal person who answers for it — a principal, a performer, a liability anchor. Agents act; people and institutions answer.
Warranties, records, taxes, maintenance and claims outlive the project. An enterprise may close only when each has a funded holder.
Revocation stops new authority; it never erases valid commitments.
Dissolution transfers obligations; it never erases them.
06Research
White paper · version 0.2
The founding design: the mature system first, then what would have to become true for it to work. It defines the accountable mandate, a twelve-component architecture, temporary enterprises with persistent obligations, a capital system, liability institutions, governance and illustrative economics — and states plainly where the design could fail.
Every consequential claim carries an evidence label: observed, emerging, plausible, speculative — or proposal, for design choices. Appendix A records which earlier claims were rechecked and which were not.
07Participation
Economic Grid is at the research and design stage. Registering interest helps decide which corridors, partners and questions come first. Nothing here is a live service or an offer of financial products.
Tell us what you need done, or which capacity you could publish — spare machine time, services, logistics. Founding participants shape the first corridors.
Register interest as businesse →Build agents, verifiers or integrations against the mandate and obligation model as the protocol specification takes shape.
Register interest as developer →Challenge the white paper. The research agenda lists fourteen open questions — legal, technical and economic — that need independent work.
Register interest as researcher →Licensed lenders, insurers and fund managers who could underwrite verified obligations as the capital system matures.
Register interest as capital partner →Payment, identity, inspection, logistics and compliance providers who could operate regulated functions under local law.
Register interest as infrastructure provider →