I've been thinking of ways to improve the economy, and came up with an interesting suggestion involving guilds that purchase items and pay the dwarves.
There would be several guilds that come into existance when the economy starts, one associated with each of the main rescource gathering tasks and each group of craft jobs. Each guild would have its own bank account with which to buy items and pay workers.
Step 1: gathering raw materials.
When raw materials are first produced, they become property of the associated guild, who pays the resource gatherer for their work. For example, when a miner digs out a lump of rock, that rock becomes property of the Miners' Guild. The Miners' Guild pays the miner for each rock/ore/gem/etc they dig out the ground, either a fixed rate, or variable depending on the value of the rock etc.
Step 2: hauling items
Whenever a hauler moves an item to a stockpile, the guild that owns the item pays the hauler for their work. This would avoid (or at least reduce) the exploit of continuously hauling items from pile to pile to generate money. If the guild cannot pay the hauler, the item becomes the property of the hauler, but is flagged as "for sale", so anyone that wants it can buy it from the hauler.
Step 3: crafting items
Whenever a craft dwarf (or any other manufacturing profession) wants to make something, they collect the items they need, and the guild associated with that job buys the materials from the guild that currently owns them (e.g. when a stone crafter picks up a rock to make a rock craft, the Craftdwarves' Guild purchases the rock from the Miners' Guild). The finished product becomes the property of the appropriate guild (in this case the Jewlers' Guild), who pays the manufacturer for their work.
Step 4: using/selling items
Shopkeepers will buy their stock from the guild that owns it.
When furniture is used to make a room, it remains the property of the guild that produced it. If/when the room owner pays their rent, the proportion of the rent that is due to the value of the furniture goes to the guild that owns it.
Step 5: public works
Some jobs aren't appropriate for this system, as they don't involve any goods changing hands or value being added to materials. For example pump operating, lever pulling, soldiering, etc. These should be treated as "public works", and payed for by the state, using the money gathered in taxes. (Finally - an actual use for the tax collector).
I can see some potential problems with this, for example if a guild somehow runs out of funds it won't be able to buy any materials or pay the workers. Possible solutions would be to allow workers to buy items privately if their guild cannot pay for them (their produce then becomes their own property rather than that of the guild, and they benefit directly from the sale). Alternatively dwarves could steal items they need (allowing them to keep working, but at the risk of punishment). Or state funds could be used to bail out bankrupt guilds (either automatically, or through player involvement, or a combination of both).
I'm also not sure how trading would be handled under this system.
What are your thoughts on this idea? Is it workable? Would it be interesting or fun (or "Fun")? Can you think of any improvements?