Why am I so poor?

[Ash//Fox]

Starting off as Sweden just to learn the game, I try and build more of facilities that are doing well, but as I build more logging camps and miners and factories which are all somewhat profitable I'm always running a slight deficit. Like if I build a furniture factory and it's running £30 a month, and then I build a logging camp that runs £12 a month, so on so forth, should my deficit eventually close up? I'm always 1-5k in the red.

[Kimlin]

If you are constantly building your are probably dumping a lot of money into construction. Stop building and see if it goes down. Early on it could be a good idea to pause building and let your investment pool build up and then build again. Off and on.

With the off and on strategy you can ensure you have the reserves to run red when you are building if you run out of the investment pool.

[Lady Aelora]

In the red or in the white? Your construction centers cost alot of money to maintain, constant building is not always recommended especially if you are a smaller country economically. Make sure you address what goods your country needs the most, and do not be afraid to export surplus goods (even setting them on export friendly to allow more AI to buy your goods at their bureaucratic expense)

[Haugen Das Ice creme]

Sounds like your running short on a material(check the market for shortages that effect other things, like lumber for a furniture workshop) or you have too many thing being constructed at once. Sometimes its better to have a lower construction capacity? That being said I assume you haven't tweaked the tax law or rate.

[donalddawkins]

Several things can affect profitability

Lack of resources going to factory = factory cant function, get resources

Resources too expensive for factory = factory does'nt make profit, employees get fired or leave, get more resources

lack of qualified people to work in factories = factories less efficent so make a loss. build universities or pick a production method that uses less qualified persons, failing that, wait or try and bring in migration

bad infrastructure or market access= less resources go into state so less efficent production. build railways or ports.

generally speaking the entire economy is circular, so by building one thing to fix another you end up in a deficit for something else. This can be averted by certain research techs that improves resource extraction, having a diverse national market of many states or focusing on one particular area and importing deficits.

One thing t look out for is joining a customs union as a smaller nation; you're good can be completely overwhelmed by cheaper made version from your customs overlord, so sometimes it's best to check to see what a customs overlord has before joining the customs union, or joining early before the surplus of good has too much of an impact.

[TimThomasCrown]

Sweden has a lot of the same resources, check to make sure you are not making to much and if so you need to export the surplus

[Kimlin]

Originally posted by donalddawkins:

Several things can affect profitability

Lack of resources going to factory = factory cant function, get resources

Resources too expensive for factory = factory does'nt make profit, employees get fired or leave, get more resources

lack of qualified people to work in factories = factories less efficent so make a loss. build universities or pick a production method that uses less qualified persons, failing that, wait or try and bring in migration

bad infrastructure or market access= less resources go into state so less efficent production. build railways or ports.

generally speaking the entire economy is circular, so by building one thing to fix another you end up in a deficit for something else. This can be averted by certain research techs that improves resource extraction, having a diverse national market of many states or focusing on one particular area and importing deficits.

One thing t look out for is joining a customs union as a smaller nation; you're good can be completely overwhelmed by cheaper made version from your customs overlord, so sometimes it's best to check to see what a customs overlord has before joining the customs union, or joining early before the surplus of good has too much of an impact.

They are stating that their buildings are profitable but their nation is going broke.

Your advice is good but might not help the OP in this situation.

[KONDO DEATH SQUAD]

Check all your inputs, like tools, coal, etc. A lack of inputs like that drives up the price of the supply line, and that affects everything downward.
Also, tariff the sh*t out of anything being exported at the start. When you start as Sweden, France and The Netherlands are bleeding you dry. Worse comes to worse, you can expel diplomats and then embargo them.
Alternately, you can reform your govt with groups that support Protectionism

[donalddawkins]

Originally posted by Kimlin:

Originally posted by donalddawkins:

Several things can affect profitability

Lack of resources going to factory = factory cant function, get resources

Resources too expensive for factory = factory does'nt make profit, employees get fired or leave, get more resources

lack of qualified people to work in factories = factories less efficent so make a loss. build universities or pick a production method that uses less qualified persons, failing that, wait or try and bring in migration

bad infrastructure or market access= less resources go into state so less efficent production. build railways or ports.

generally speaking the entire economy is circular, so by building one thing to fix another you end up in a deficit for something else. This can be averted by certain research techs that improves resource extraction, having a diverse national market of many states or focusing on one particular area and importing deficits.

One thing t look out for is joining a customs union as a smaller nation; you're good can be completely overwhelmed by cheaper made version from your customs overlord, so sometimes it's best to check to see what a customs overlord has before joining the customs union, or joining early before the surplus of good has too much of an impact.

They are stating that their buildings are profitable but their nation is going broke.

Your advice is good but might not help the OP in this situation.

No worries, here’s other things that can affect income:

Upset parties: some upset political parties will give you massive income penalties, like in some cases the army party of some nations literally adds 30% cost to army units upkeep etc. in those cases you may need to raise wages or pass laws to keep them happy

Another reason could be subsidies. If you subsidise building these may also bankrupt you, only subsidise key industry like railways, ports and some military infrastructure, even then worse case scenario cut costs there as well


Welfare: institutions such as the poor law or old ages pensions are extremely expensive, you may need to cut welfare, education, colonial investment and so on.

Government wages/ goods: having too many government buildings can bankrupt you due to paper costs and wages. Either lower wages or reduce the number of government buildings you have.

Having too many construction buildings or not having the goods to meet construction demands can also cripple you, so either pick a cheaper construction level or reduce the level of your construction

Reparations from war: losing wars can give very expensive reparation taxes as well.

Way to fix income

1) slash military spending and reduce army size, also navy, failing that pick cheaper military levels (going from skirmishes to line infantry for example) for army or navy units, or even make the conscription centre military levels dirt cheap.

2) slash government spending, cut down on government buildings and wages to the nub until you have only a little bureaucratic power left

3) keep political parties happy, pass laws that improve the political system

4) slash welfare spending, and slash the government buildings to boot with the excess bureaucracy

5) if really desperate, start a war and force the opposing side to.pay reparations or make the, join your market. Recessions are a thing in this game and surplus goods can drive down wages, you will need to at some stage either join a market and sell your goods (hopefully not getting reverse saturated in the process) or force your goods onto a poor unsuspecting nation via forcing them into your market

6) change taxation law, after some time older versions of taxation (consumption, land tax etc) become inefficient as your population changes, eventually you may want to go down the per capita taxation system, you can check which tax law gives you better income via the law screen and mousing over each tax law

7) reduce construction via either reducing construction levels or deleting construction slots

8) close down universities

[Ash//Fox]

Thank you for the advice everyone, my economy is thriving now however my filthy peasants are angry they can't simply buy more money. How can I help the dirty stupid poor people to stop being radicalized by poverty since I can't just pay them more directly Tropico style?

[Kimlin]

Originally posted by Ash//Fox:

Thank you for the advice everyone, my economy is thriving now however my filthy peasants are angry they can't simply buy more money. How can I help the dirty stupid poor people to stop being radicalized by poverty since I can't just pay them more directly Tropico style?

You can pay them more money by lowering taxes and subsidies of industry.

[Ash//Fox]

Originally posted by Kimlin:

Originally posted by Ash//Fox:

Thank you for the advice everyone, my economy is thriving now however my filthy peasants are angry they can't simply buy more money. How can I help the dirty stupid poor people to stop being radicalized by poverty since I can't just pay them more directly Tropico style?

You can pay them more money by lowering taxes and subsidies of industry.

I'm already at the lowest taxes and hovering around 0 deficit

[Dray Prescot]

How many Construction Sectors are you using?

Early in the Sweden Tutorial, only build 1 or maybe 2 new Construction Sectors. More of them just drive up your prices on Construction Goods, and you are not making enough cash income to keep 3 or 4+ Constructors busy all of the time. So you will drive yourself into debt.

I have tried games with 3 or 4 (or more) Construction Sectors as Sweden, they do not work