The following is a combination of questions and suggestions that were sent to players in a pbem game.
We would appreciate if forum members would take the time to look the ideas over; any advice is most welcome.
"Everyone is suffering from over production and low demand and hence low world prices, etc. etc.
Dumping our surplus into their markets was not working; how many of us are keeping industries running that are operating at a loss? Excess stockpiles automatically lose a percentage through shrinkage; it might be wise to shut down any structures that are just contributing to excess stockpiles.
Remember that your biggest market is your internal market and sales there satisfy your population’s needs. The Contentment index will rise, more or less in proportion to the quantity and quality of the products that you release for sale.
Let’s all check our domestic market numbers. Are you meeting the needs of your population? And does your local production offered a wide enough range of Food, Common Goods, and Luxury goods?
Consider seeing how much of what your domestic market can handle. Set the sliders to 80% for most goods, except when it is desirable to cut back domestic consumption of particular items, such as manufactured goods, for strategic reasons
Could you increase contentment by expanding the quantity and variety of products offered for sale?
Here’s a thought. We might be able to prime the pump if we all pull together. If every player listed 1 to 2 commodities they wished to export and we all purchased 1 or more of those items, it might raise overall world demand. Increased world demand should also increase the price of commodities and thus again raising the amount of private capital. At the very least, these purchased goods could be resold in our domestic market, replenishing private capital while also increasing choice for your people.
As to the questions are you meeting the needs of your population and is your local production offering a wide range of Food, Common Goods, and Luxury goods, to check: select tab F4 (Industry and Commerce); Look at the 4th row down, mouse over the rice, fruit, or whatever icon; It should say ____ belongs to the ___ group. Population can buy at most # wares and you are selling to them a total of #; this is your national demand and you should strive to fill this quote. The wider range of wares offered on your internal market, the more the Contentment index will rise,
As to the question of how many goods should a league member purchase, perhaps if a offered good is a cheaper type item let each nation attempt to purchase 2 units from each offerer; if the cost of a item is in the middle range, let us attempt to purchase 1 unit each.
Players who cannot access the trade areas where these offered goods are available will need a nation to step in as a middle man to purchase and reexport the goods.
As almost everyone needs coal, let’s consider taking that merchandise out of any pump priming offerings.
In addition to this, perhaps we could all purchase a small amount of third world items like coffee, sugar and tropical fruit?
For big spenders, if you can scrape together the cash, consider making foreign investments in structures that build goods in short supply. Before doing this, make sure you have a commercial agreement and at least a 25% relationship.
Finally, does anyone know if lowering tariffs will help to increase international sales?"