So I was having a chat with your mother last night.
“You’ve got to help!” she wailed, “my child is unable to run a nation with a good economy on the online browser-based nation simulation game NationStates!”

Well, as it so happens, I am just the man for the job. In this literary classic, I will guide both you and your mother through the various different methods you can use to turn your quaint little nations into economic juggernauts that will leave Joe Biden and Xi Jinping quaking in their boots. So buckle up to protect your fragile fleshy parts, and get ready to exploit your resources, enslave your children, and privatise your beaches. It’s economic boom time.

Step 1: Alexa, what are morals?
During your time answering issues, you may have come across some options and opinions which you considered to be somewhat unsavoury. However, you must remember the old adage that nice guys finish last… in the economy rankings of online browser-based nation simulator games. So let’s throw away any of those silly ‘feelings’ and get to making ourselves some economy.

The stat economic freedom is linked to the economy, though these two stats are different. In general, anything which increases the freedom of businesses to do whatever they like will boost your economy. Therefore, you need to start legalising all the fun stuff: Destroying your forests? Check. Abolishing minimum wage? Of course. Child slavery? Oh, we really are having a fun day now, aren’t we? And that reminds me, this dispatch is brought to you by Nord VPN. for just a small monthly fee of however much it costs, you can convince your girlfriend that it’s not you who keeps printing out all those inappropriate photos of anthromorphised household objects; it must be that Russian guy who’s hacked into your computer. idk what VPNs do, but I’m sure it’s something like that. Whatever, let’s get back on with our economic domination.

Step 2: Nationstates is a perfectly balanced game with no exploits
Let’s say, hypothetically, that you’re one of those bleeding-heart liberals who insists on giving their citizens some form of human rights. Ugh. Unfortunately, all that industry regulation, labour laws, and disgusting welfare is going to leave your economy stumbling into bankruptcy like your father stumbling drunk into a brothel.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Nationstates simply had a ‘make economy better’ button? We all know, however, that the admins have spent years slowly developing the game and its stat calculations, making sure that everything is balanced and there is no cheat code to get to the top.

Haha, I lied. Nationstates has a broken stat, and it goes by the name of business subsidisation. If you don’t know what this is, it is the Nationstates equivalent of an invincibility star, except it just keeps on going. Basically, every time you read something along the lines of ‘“We need more funds,” says the CEO of XYZIndustries’, you can just click the button for an instant economy boost with little downside. Is this even for an industry that your nation actually has? Don’t worry, the economic boom button has little concern for reality; it dutifully gives you that stat increase that you need. You can use this as much as you like, limits are an unnecessary human concept!

You might worry that adding corporate welfare to your already significant healthcare spending, public transport maintenance, and comprehensive education system might be a little costly. You might be concerned as you see your average tax rate rise beyond 100%, but worry not! Tax is just a number, and it’s a number you can easily ignore because the simulation does not punish you for having a tax rate that makes North Korea look libertarian. So long as you’re happy to have a disposable income stat that looks like the UK’s score at Eurovision, you’ve got nothing to worry about!

Step 3: Just pick whatever, really.
The world moves fast today. You’re a busy person. Running a good economy on an online browser-based nation simulator game sure sounds like wild time, but you’ve got deals to close and places to be; no time left for actual strategy and tactics. Well don’t worry my dear, you can play NationStates in the same way a pigeon plays chess - just kick stuff around at random - and you can win.

Now I confess, I have never run any nations which pick randomly or systematically with no care for what the issues are actually about; so if I see further than others, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants. The four nations: Always choosing the first option, I Always Choose The First Option, Always choosing the last option, and I Always Choose The Last Option all have economies of 100/100. Now, I can’t verify that the restrictions stated in their nation names have actually been followed, but these appear to be two players who have reached the same conclusion, and I consider that to be scientifically sound evidence because I’m too lazy to do the testing myself.

Basically, in order to have a sub-par economy, you have to be actively trying to do so. Sure, like an E-scooter with a puncture, picking options without reading them isn’t going to be the most optimum road to success, but it will get you there eventually.

This is the end.
Remember to SMASH that like button and leave a comment up your arse because I have no interest in other people’s opinions.