The One and Only Official of Ghost is a titanic, safe nation, ruled by George Washington's Ghost with an even hand, and notable for its feral children, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, devout population of 13.718 billion ghosts are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Defense, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Spookane. The average income tax rate is 69.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Ghostian economy, worth 645 trillion cryptoes a year, is led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Woodchip Exports, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 47,029 cryptoes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Teachers prefer to give 'Maybe, Maybe Not' tests when dealing with sensitive subjects, the "feminist protest" defence is increasingly common for cases of armed robbery, the bonfire of the old paper records can be seen for miles around Spookane, and voting is voluntary. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ghost's national animal is the skeleton, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Ghost is ranked 248,974^th in the world and 1,256^th in the Outback for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -5.81 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.