Losing money

[Kyubey Milk]

I keep trying and trying, but there seems to be absolutely no way to prevent yourself from getting into a negative income downward spiral. It seems like no matter what I do, I end up losing upwards of 20 to 40 of income each and every turn.

There just seems to be no clear indicator as to what is causing this. I automate the economy, I lose money. I don't automate the economy, I lose money. I let corruption run rampant, I lose money. I crack down on corruption, I lose money. I tell Mr Reagan to ♥♥♥♥ off, I lose money. I suck Mr Reagan's ♥♥♥♥ I lose money.

There is no escape

[Vector]

I have the same problem here. It seems, that this loss (if it is negative) is most of the time under "other" in game's horribly designed income statement.

[Ernst Cornell]

raising the taxes a bit ( 2% or 4% usually, maybe 6% but that might be too much) and investing heavily in civil technologies always did the work for me

the main stats to keep attention when making money are competitveness and exports levels as they give you the "added-value" factor which brings profits, afaik both stats are heavily affected by civil techs and automatization but also healthy industries (agriculture, lt. and hv. industry, MIC & services) are very important (8 levels or at least) as their sum provides the base from where export & competitiveness calculations seem to be made.

also raising alcohol prices bring in nice profits every now and then.

beyond that other money making techniques (as colonial explotation, population size effect, foreign trade policies or why (finally) achieving full communism raises my income sky high) are still black boxes for me honestly

[Vector]

Thanks. Figured out eventually, that rasing taxed to 4 creates similar but positive change that can be invested or put in reserve.

[Ernst Cornell]

Originally posted by Vector:

Thanks. Figured out eventually, that rasing taxed to 4 creates similar but positive change that can be invested or put in reserve.

remember to spend that little extra into civil tech budget until you max competitiveness and exports.
so in that way soviet goods will bring the motherland great prosperity through their higher quality and more convenient prices than capitalist junk.

[Vector]

What are the optimal leves to maximize competitiveness? I usually spend about 100 on civilian technologies.

[Ernst Cornell]

Originally posted by Vector:

What are the optimal leves to maximize competitiveness? I usually spend about 100 on civilian technologies.

honestly i just sink money into civilian technology on it until it maxes competitiveness and then i spend even more when it decreases a little bit, unlike industrial investments tech investments (apparently) don't get huge overspending maluses.

if i'm not mistaken around 300 is when it start's to get maxed, however that could change with certain economic policies (for example. i mostly run simple state planned economies, sometimes with some self-management or even kadarism [but the later impedes full communism, go figure])

anyways, AFAIK don't be shy with science spending, i mean it's SOVIET SCIENCE after all.

[Vector]

Hm, I didn't know there were overspending maluses. When do they start to appear? Playing on Hard BTW.

[Ernst Cornell]

Originally posted by Vector:

Hm, I didn't know there were overspending maluses. When do they start to appear? Playing on Hard BTW.

did you play the tutorial? if you spend more money in an industry that already is going well (say for example, level 8 agriculture) that money is basically wasted.

also if you spend in an industry more than you spend in state apparatus, that additional money is also basically wasted too.

and that 8 level industry efficiency limit, is supposedly removed when either: you're spending at least 200 in that industry or you've reached full comunism. otherwise only 3 or less industries can reach max capacity at the same time.

there are several other ways and places to waste money in negligible effects, but that are some basic ones.

[boomchickady]

Originally posted by Ernst Cornell:

Originally posted by Vector:

Hm, I didn't know there were overspending maluses. When do they start to appear? Playing on Hard BTW.

did you play the tutorial? if you spend more money in an industry that already is going well (say for example, level 8 agriculture) that money is basically wasted.

also if you spend in an industry more than you spend in state apparatus, that additional money is also basically wasted too.

and that 8 level industry efficiency limit, is supposedly removed when either: you're spending at least 200 in that industry or you've reached full comunism. otherwise only 3 or less industries can reach max capacity at the same time.

there are several other ways and places to waste money in negligible effects, but that are some basic ones.

this is the best economy tutorial i have seen so far i thank you sir.

[DasMudPie]

It's also a good idea to keep France friendly enough to avoid getting their embargo in addition to that of the USA. Having two embargoes at the same time diminishes exports and every bit of profit counts in the early years, until oil prices rise again...

I always invest 200 in civil technologies at the beginning of the game.

[Vector]

How to improve relations with France?

[DasMudPie]

With more spendings in subsidies for the UN and diplomatic missions, having Sheverdnadze as the Minister of Foreign Relations and adopting softer a foreign policy in the Foreign Ministry ("Brezhnev's policy" and below)

France also likes to see the USSR diplomatically oppose the USA.