Political online game and economic simulation

Greetings everyone, I have a doubt.

Honestly the game is a lot of fun, but something I cannot understand is why my USA states (and I have this only happen with my USA states) develop so much corruption in the late game.

Take my latest one for example. Why is corruption so high? People live good lives, the vast majority are employed, pensions & welfare are quite high (so neither retirees nor the unemployed have to restore to crime or shady dealings), infraestructure is top-notch... Yet at some point in the mid game corruption just kept rising and rising. Why?

Not as good as you think.

The average net income is low compared to the cost of living. A US template starts out with a ratio of 2.35 (net income/cost of living). In your state, this ratio is ~1.29. Differently put: An average citizen has just about enough money to afford a living for him-/herself, but that's about it. Larger investments - luxury, holidays, family - are difficult to afford for many of your people. Naturally, they are willing to improve their income here and there with some "gifts".

I thought as much, but allow me to reformulate the question: What is causing that high living cost and stagnation of net income?

Although your words do seem to hint at something, I wish confirmation: Does this have to do with the relatively low investment in PE Family? I simply did not think it necessary. I considered that if I invested in all other areas (healthcare for example) then the money would be better spent than as mere child subsidies. I did not think that PE Family was so vital compared to the living costs.

Population growth.

In Ars Regendi, there is a negative correlation between rapidly growing populations and economies that can not keep up the pace. (If this is an issue in reality is still controversial, but high population growth in low-income countries can certainly slow their development) You will have to encourage economical growth to compensate for the increasing population, limit population growth itself, or hope that a fair amount of your citizens starts migrating to other countries.

Well, you can. But this will certainly encourage people to have children.

Ah, I see! So it was not a case of too little investment in PE Family, but too much instead.

As for economy growth, I often experienced slow but gradual growth - I did not think it would be a problem, however now that you mention population growth being an issue I suppose I will need to get more involved in these aspects of my nation.

Thank you for help!

To put this into a take home message: Make sure that your population does not grow faster than the economy of your state.

Do not worry, I understood as much.

Thank you again for the help.

[quote=Greater_Zenith]
Greetings everyone, I have a doubt.

Honestly, the game is a lot of fun, but something I cannot understand is why my USA states (and I have this only happen with my USA states) develop so much corruption in the late game.

Take my latest one for example. Why is corruption so high? People live good lives, the vast majority are employed, pensions & welfare are quite high (so neither retirees nor the unemployed have to restore to crime or shady dealings), infrastructure is top-notch... Yet at some point in the mid-game corruption just kept rising and rising. Why?


It’s been a challenging couple of years for the international community. A stagnant global economy, tumbling commodity prices, rising populism, ongoing conflicts.

But when Latin American leaders were asked to name the biggest challenge in their region for 2015, the majority of them pointed to something else: corruption.

Of course, none of this is new to the region. As the Economist wrote in a special report on the issue, “resistance to corruption in Latin America has a long and largely futile history”.

Every year, when Transparency International releases its Corruption Perception Index, Latin American countries consistently appear towards the bottom. And it’s a scourge that affects large proportions of the population – as many as 30% of people in some countries

I think due to human greed!

Too easy and ideological an answer.