Common Symptoms
You're experiencing these issues:
- Profits look flat despite new buildings: You've built manufactories and trade buildings, but income isn't increasing.
- Goods missing locally: Your locations can't get the inputs they need, or they can't sell outputs.
- Unemployment or underemployment persists: Jobs remain unfilled even after building new structures.
- Trade routes fail to move volume: Routes you've created aren't generating the expected income.
Root Causes
Economy stalling typically stems from three interconnected problems:
1. Jobs Not Staffed Due to Food/Housing Shortages
Populations need food and housing to work. If these basics aren't met, jobs remain unfilled, buildings don't produce, and you're paying maintenance for nothing. This creates a cascading failure: no production → no income → can't afford more infrastructure.
2. Market Capacity at Zero in Your Target Market
Every market has a capacity limit. If your target market has zero capacity, trade routes can't operate. You need marketplaces to raise capacity. Without capacity, you can't import or export goods, even if you have the buildings and staff.
3. Low Access/Control Starving Locations of Inputs
Access and control determine how well your locations connect to markets. Low access means locations can't reliably get inputs or sell outputs. Low control means you're not collecting taxes efficiently. Both problems stem from missing infrastructure (roads, ports).
Fix Checklist
Follow these steps in order:
Step 1: Secure Food and Housing First
Fix food and housing shortages before adding new jobs. Check your population satisfaction. If you see red warnings for food or housing, address these first. Build food production and housing before expanding manufactories. Unstaffed buildings drain maintenance without producing anything.
Step 2: Build Marketplaces to Raise Capacity
Build marketplaces in the market you actually trade with. Check your target market's capacity. If it's zero or near zero, build marketplaces in that market's hub locations. Each marketplace adds capacity, enabling trade routes to operate.
Shorten routes and prioritize high-margin goods. Long routes consume more capacity. Focus on short, high-profit routes first. Once capacity is stable, you can expand to longer routes.
Step 3: Improve Access/Control via Roads and Ports
Build roads and ports so your locations get inputs and sell outputs consistently. Roads improve inland access and control. Ports enable overseas trade and coastal control. Without infrastructure, locations can't reliably participate in markets, even if capacity exists.
Prevention
Avoid economy stalls in the future:
- Focus on one primary market for the first decades: Don't spread yourself thin across multiple markets. Develop one market fully before expanding to others.
- Add routes only after capacity rises and employment is stable: Wait until you have sufficient capacity and staffed buildings before creating trade routes. Premature routes consume capacity without generating profit.
- Monitor population satisfaction regularly: Check food, housing, and employment regularly. Fix shortages before they stall production.
- Build infrastructure before expansion: Roads and ports are prerequisites for trade, not luxuries. Build them first.
Quick Fix Checklist
- Check food and housing satisfaction—fix shortages first
- Staff existing buildings before building new ones
- Build marketplaces in your primary trade hub
- Shorten routes and prioritize high-margin goods
- Build roads connecting capital to key provinces
- Build ports in coastal provinces
- Focus on one primary market first