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“Once you have their money, you never give it back.”

The Incorporated States of Ferringinar is a massive, socially progressive nation, ruled by The Grand Nagus with an iron fist, and notable for its sprawling nuclear power plants. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 4.225 billion are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

There is no government in the normal sense of the word; however, a small group of community-minded, pro-business individuals juggles the competing demands of Public Transport, Education, and Commerce. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Commerce City. Income tax is unheard of. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Gambling industry, followed by Information Technology and Soda Sales.

Anti-government web sites are springing up, penurious citizens die from easily remedied ailments because they aren't 'taking enough initiative', young children are regularly seen wagering pocket money at blackjack tables, and most of the military's funding goes into researching space-age weaponry. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is crippling. Ferringinar's national animal is the weasel, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the latinum.

Ferringinar is ranked 22nd in the region and 43,737th in the world for Highest Unemployment Rates.