So, does anybody actually print money?

[SnowFire]

As the title says. I really don't see the point. If you do so, you cause inflation, starve your research budgets, and get comparitively little in exchange- maybe 2 ducats a month, which is 12 a year, when you get 200+ ducats in annual census taxes. Plus, the temporary gain will be rapidly lost from the inflation and the adding up of all the extra costs you have to pay.

Plus, I don't seem to see any negative effects of running a short-term deficit. I.e. in Februrary I will be losing 22 ducats a month according to my little "To Treasury" pop-up, then I'll run out of money and have 0 gold in the treasury, and instead of printing enough coinage to "keep up" so to speak, it will just say your balance is 0.0 ducats per month, and your inflation rate stays extremely low (.07 per year or something).

[Imran Siddiqui]

Sometimes it can be useful (think Wartime), but mostly 0.0 or a bit above is best. However even then your inflation rate increases. Watch out!

[SnowFire]

Well, of course I'm watching inflation, which is why I'm not having any. But even in wartime, will an extra 12 ducats per year help any? At all? And what about all your investments in military technologies, or of course the fact that military units will cost more because you're printing money?

I don't think it's worth it even in wartime.

[Victor Galis]

Well there comes a time in a country's life, when they have no choice but to print money. I print fully 853 Ducats a month, because I have nothing left to research. Of course it doesn't help any at this point, because I already have too much money, and don't know what to do with it. Even if I built a shipyard everywhere I could, and a manufactury, I doubt I could put a dent in my reserves that a few months wouldn't fix.

[Dauphin]

quote: Plus, I don't seem to see any negative effects of running a short-term deficit. I.e. in Februrary I will be losing 22 ducats a month according to my little "To Treasury" pop-up, then I'll run out of money and have 0 gold in the treasury, and instead of printing enough coinage to "keep up" so to speak, it will just say your balance is 0.0 ducats per month, and your inflation rate stays extremely low (.07 per year or something).

The negative affect is a loss of research. (if you notice it makes up the shortfall). Not that detrimental when compared to inflation though..

BTW. Is ther any way to decrease inflation? It seems to be cumulative, yet I see on the graphs section that other nations can/have reduced it.

[Victor Galis]

Governors reduce it. I print all my money +1%/year, and for the longest time my inflation stayed at 0.

[Ramo]

Inflation-bad, research-good!

I didn't even notice inflation for the first 30 or so years of my first game.

[Par4]

Can someone please describe the printing money model I didn't see it in the manual and didn't even know it was in the game.

Pros?
cons?
How to?

[Savant]

I like to play minor nations, the smaller, the better and it is hard to get by on just what the slider provides for income (if you wish to do well, and not be eaten).

So I take loans and I go bankrupt from time to time. I hate the inflation, it kills me! But by taking loans and going bankrupt I get a brief relief from inflation while all my tech investments go to blazes. It just seems to real! Damn it!

Par - we are talking about controlling yax money. The slider on the revenue screen allows you to print money (raise taxes like a good Democrat). Of course doing so reduces money available in the economy to produce goods and technology. And, it raises inflation!

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'Blood will run'
[This message has been edited by Savant (edited March 07, 2001).]

[Victor Galis]

There is no way to raise/lower taxes in the game, except for the raise war taxes button. What you're doing here is your spending your tax money. This isn't about lowering or raising taxes and draining your economy. I wish I could lower taxes... it's not like I have any use for 200,000D.

[Allemand]

As with many games, you start out with not enough and end up with too much. Then it's time to raise the difficulty level, or play anther game.

[Par4]

Victor quit bragging and move up to easy difficulty

hehehe, I'll try hard if I can win as portugual.

[Grumbold]

The advantage of pulling out extra monthly money is pretty negligible when your running a small poor nation. Additional inflation for an extra 1-3d per month is bad news. Once your economy has improved and you have rich overseas colonies and flourishing trade you can be pulling in 80+ d per month. In wartime this can allow you to maintain several sieges simultaneously, feeding in new infantrymen to replace attrition losses. Alternatively you can maintain only small standing armies in the knowledge that soon after war broke out you could reform a considerable military force.

Trade and Infrastructure techs are more crucial to improving your wealth than expanding your territory. Once you gain some lucrative trade monopolies it is less important how wealthy your home country is.

Inflation is more of a game feature than a bugbear anyway. Even if you plunder the treasury all year prices only become 1% more expensive. Modern world leaders and financial advisors would kill for an inflation figure that low. Once you reach infrastructure level 5 you can even eliminate that small amount. Possibly the only major nation to be hard hit by it is Russia because their infantry cost goes from 2 to 3 as soon as they hit 1% inflation. Since this is still far cheaper than anyone else I can't say I sympathise

[Victor Galis]

I'm france on GC(Very easy) on Normal difficulty. Sure I have nice country, but I'm playing at the default difficulty. I'll be happy to turn it up, if I ever finish this game... too many fronts

So which minor nation should I play as?

I'm looking at:

Venice
Scotland
Wallachia