The Love Song That Goes On of Velvet Elvis is a huge, cultured nation, notable for its compulsory military service, complete lack of prisons, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless, devout population of 989 million Velvet Elvisians are free to succeed or fail in life on their own merits; the successful tend to enjoy an opulent (but moralistic) lifestyle, while the failures can be seen crowding out most jails.

The tiny, corrupt, pro-business government is effectively ruled by the Department of Defense, with Industry and Law & Order also on the agenda, while Environment and Social Policy aren't funded at all. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 6.0%.

The powerhouse Velvet Elvisian economy, worth 79.0 trillion velvets a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Retail, Uranium Mining, and Soda Sales. Average income is 79,833 velvets, but there is an enormous disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 443,592 per year while the poor average 7,202, a ratio of 61.6 to 1.

One-stop superstores divide and conquer family businesses, subsidisation of Big Pharma has stopped many corporate executives from having to sell their second homes, Merry Birthday is a popular protest song despite the risk of fines and royalty dues, and Jennifer Government is a bestseller. Crime, especially youth-related, is pervasive, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Velvet Elvis's national animal is the expendable resource, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Velvet Elvis is ranked 6,859^th in the world and 1^st in Founderless for Largest Basket Weaving Sector, scoring 7,060.36 on the Hickory Productivity Index.