Budget & sectors
Every week the treasury collects tax revenue and pays out four spending streams — government, military, debt interest and policy costs. Balancing these is the heartbeat of your finances.
How it works
Revenue is your GDP taxed at your rate, scaled by weekly cadence and boosted by finance tech and a revenue focus, then cut by any autonomy drag and tax-strain erosion. Spending has a structural government base of 18% of GDP (weekly-scaled), plus military upkeep, debt interest and policy costs (R&D, natalism, intel).
Military upkeep scales with your army, navy (×1.6) and air (×2.2), and — importantly — with your per-capita wealth: richer nations pay more per soldier (high wages, advanced kit) via a factor from 0.5 to 2.2. A capable defense minister can shave up to 35% off upkeep.
Net = revenue − spending, and the treasury absorbs it plus any perpetual project income. If the treasury goes negative it converts straight into debt; if it's comfortably in surplus (above 5% of GDP) and you carry debt, 20% of the excess automatically pays it down each cycle.
Formulas
revenue = GDP × (taxRate/100) × 0.25 × (1/12) × 4 × (1 + taxTech×0.06 + revFocus) × diffMul × (1 − 0.25×autonomyDrag) × (1 − min(0.35, taxStrain×0.0035))govSize = GDP × 0.18 × (1/12)milUpkeep = (army + navy×1.6 + air×2.2) × 0.028 × pcF × (1 + milTech×0.005) × (4/12) × (1 − min(0.35, cabMil×0.03)), pcF = clamp(0.5 + perCap/45, 0.5, 2.2)net = revenue − (govSize + milUpkeep + debtInterest + policyCost); treasury += net + projectIncomeif treasury > GDP×0.05 and debt > 0: pay = min(debt, (treasury − GDP×0.05) × 0.2)Key numbers
How to play
- ▸Rich nations pay far more per unit of military — a huge standing army is a much heavier burden at high per-capita, so right-size your forces to your economy.
- ▸Keep a surplus above 5% of GDP and existing debt auto-amortizes at 20% of the excess; hoarding beyond that just risks inflation (see the surplus-injection rule).
- ▸Invest in finance/fiscal tech: it lifts revenue and trims debt interest, easing both sides of the ledger.
- ▸Appoint a strong defense minister before a big buildup — up to 35% off upkeep transforms the affordability of your army.