Gaming: Supreme Ruler Tips - Be a Republican for success!
The following was a comment posted in a review of the game, that I fully agree with.
My favorite aspect is the economy. Lots of people toss this game because they act like Democrats. They spend tons of money on infrastructure. They don't have industry goods to produce any of the facilities. Therefore they import them driving the world market price through the roof. They go broke. Taxes eventually reach 99% as you run a full on socialist state. Inflation goes through the roof as your government spends and borrows wildly at the whims of the rulers. And because you.... the user.... has total control (ie big government) your complete mismanagement wrecks the entire nation for a generation.
Instead..... focus the economy on GDP. It's everything IMO. Higher GDP equals more tax revenue. You want the people to be prosperous. I've tried many economic models and found most to be somewhat realistic. I've use the common flat tax. It's fairly effective. The "fair tax" ie sales tax is an excellent model. The citizens only pay taxes on goods consumed. In a perfect world you produce most of what you consume..... and consume a lot. Domestic profits are much higher than exports. If you keep a healthy balance of supply and demand with a national sales tax of roughly 30%..... you're good. GDP will go up. You'll gain tax revenue everytime goods are sold to the populace. And you get general revenue from the sale. In the real world..... this is essentially a free market with a national sales tax (as the only source of income.) People scoff at the idea because they think THEY would end up paying everything at the counter while the rich walk away unscathed. Anyone with a brain knows that's what happens anyway. Raise taxes on corporations and they simply raise prices to match. A healthy business will always maintain a steady profit line. Taxes are nothing more than a business expese. Either way it goes taxes are always paid by the little guy. Even now..... your employer is responsible for a large portion of your taxes. People think.... "Great... the company pays that." Except for the reality that it's simply a business expense considered under "labor." Which means you. Therefore you are more expensive to the company and get paid less. Therefore you actually pay ALL taxes. Because if they did not exist.... then a healthy competitive market would drive wages up to the current line anyway. It doesn't matter who gets the money from the companies perspective. Either the government.... or you.... cost X amount of dollars for one employee per year.
Anyway if you choose to run a socialist economic model.... your goal is to export. You want to drive GDP down. In lamens terms.... you want the people poor. Poor people work for nothing. The end result of all socialist nations is poverty. Poverty keeps you in business. Look at China. When their people become to prosperous they print a ton of money and devalue their currency by half...... essentially making the people 50% poorer. The easiest way to make everyone poor.... is to jack taxes through the roof. You can simultaneously raise services to maintain public order. But the people will still be poor. The lower their GDP.... the cheaper you can produce goods (ie China).... the less people of your own country can afford goods like electricity and water..... and you'll have a ton of cheap goods available on the market. If they pile up.... simply do bulk sales with a minimal profit. Technologies can also reduce the cost of production. But GDP is a huge factor and you can crash it quickly. As a socialist nation you will make tons of money off consumer goods. They are always in demand. They fetch a nice profit. And the poorer your people are.... the richer you get. .... Gee.... isn't socialism great.
Overall don't be afraid to raise and lower taxes. The economy should be flexible. Don't build it around one strategy. Grow it in all directions. Don't be afraid to shut factories down if you can import goods cheaper than you can make them. Why pay your own people more money when another country can produce it cheaper? Unemployment isn't that difficult to control. (Higher unemployement also means less competition for workers.... which means lower wages... whicih means you can produce goods cheaper and drop GDP.) You want a healthy balance of everything. I typically start the game by building a few industrial goods complexes. I want enough to sustain a war. Then I identify the particular countries trade imbalance. Try to produce goods rather than import them (unless producing them is more expensive.) And eventually create a small surplus of various commodities for export. I try to run about a 20% overall tax rate usually focussing on the sales tax. You want the people rich and prosperous. Make sure you maintain a healthy budget surplus. And you'll be fine. The game is not about massively overhauling countries. It's about managing them over time with minor tweaks.