Strategies/Economic Laws Tips

Economic Laws can be very difficult and complex to fully understand, as instead of just regular government spending, there are 5 different economic categories with one military category. However, this guide will briefly teach and describe on how to navigate expenditures effectively.

Military Spending[]

Military spending can be vital to your defense, but it can also drain your economy. During peacetime, your military spending should generally be at level 3 or 5, or if you are isolated from the main world, such as Australia, then it can be set to level 1.
However, if you are neutral and lack a large military, you can set readiness to maximum (level 9), because it provides free military power without suffering from the upkeep multiplier costs.
Military spending during wartime should always be set to maximum, especially during player wars, because a 1.5x (+50%) boost to attack and defense is a crucial and significant bonus during combat. While maximum readiness will double the upkeep, you will need the boost, especially if the enemy has decent military modifiers.
Never go below level 3 if you bound to enter a war, as it will take 40 seconds or more to recharge readiness back to level 5. This delay can result in poor military performance and an easy enemy victory.
The only time when you can descend to level 1, besides being isolated from the main world, is if you are spawning massive amounts of units, as reduced readiness results in reduced military upkeep, enabling larger maintenance.
Do keep in mind that this is situational, as sometimes if the enemy is spamming, you should just toggle to level 5 and hold key cities.

Economic Spending[]

Economic spending is separated into six parts besides Military spending: Government spending, Education spending, Healthcare spending, Security spending, Anti Corruption spending, and Research spending. There are key points to each one though.
Aside from Military Spending, Government, Education, Research, and to a higher extent, Anti Corruption, are the most important spendings to obtain early game, depending on your country's conditions; otherwise, Health and Security are not as important compared to the ones listed.
Economic spending level can be higher than it is recommended below, as it only applies to countries that have a moderate economy.

Government Spending[]

Due to its overall cheapness, Government Spending could be used to gain a small amount of political power and stability gain.
Although it is good in a sense, it is somewhat outclassed by Leaders, especially Political Reformers and Head of Governments.
Government Spending is recommended to be set at Level 5-6 for moderate economies. However, countries who acquired significant Consumer Goods trades can set this spending to Level 7.

Security Spending[]

Not necessarily used early game, but it is far one of the most important economic laws during mid to late game, especially in war.
The reason why it's one of the most important laws is because it's one of the main methods to counter war exhaustion for most nations that are not aligned with Communism or Socialism ideologies.
In the early to mid game, Security Spending should be normally be set at level 0, unless if you are suffering from high war exhaustion, then it should be increased to level 5 or higher.
In the late game, Security Spending should eventually be raised to level 5 or higher.
- Socialist and Communist countries could have this set at level 0 to 3 because they already have a modifier that negates a decent amount of war exhaustion gain.
Despite its name, it is the closest thing to the old Government Spending.

Healthcare Spending[]

Not necessarily used early game, but it advised to get Healthcare Spending at level 2 or 3 eventually.
For Communist nations using the Forced Labour for dissidents policy, it is highly recommended to increase Healthcare Spending to Level 3 or higher. This is because having both Communism and this policy can lead to potential negative population growth due to their modifiers, but the loss is not that significant.
- Highly developed cities and mass expansion can also outweigh the population loss.

Education Spending[]

With political leaders, Education Spending can greatly boost political leader experience gain.
Education Spending should normally be around Level 2 or 3 during the early game where ideologies are generally more important than leaders, but once leaders are a more commonplace during the later stages of the game, Education Spending can be set to Level 5 or higher to reap additional benefits.
If you have a decent economy for maintenance, you can jump straight to Level 5 if you already begin with your desired ideology early game, and you now prioritizing leaders.
However, if you did not recruit any political leaders before getting an ideology, which you should have unless if your luck is terrible, then Education Spending should be set at 0.

Anti Corruption Spending[]

Since Anti Corruption Spending is the most expensive spending in the game, this should normally be set at level 0.
However, change it to level 2 if you have a corrupt policy enabled early game, such as the Ignore Safety Regulations or Favor the Political Elite, and you need modifiers to offset passive corruption gain.
Small countries with only a few low populated cities can typically set this at maximum, if they sufficient trade income, because the burden will not be as high as moderate-sized countries, like Germany. Since they can obtain higher Anti Corruption Spending, they are able to get more corrupt policies, like Favor the Political Elite and Underground Labs.
Communist countries without a Chief Judge leader should set this at level 4 or 5 because they have passive corruption gain.

Research Spending[]

One of the most important spending to get, alongside Government Spending, as it is one of the primary ways to accelerate technology for Quantum Computing.
Research Spending should be set at a minimum of level 3 or 5 if you have a limited economy, but should always be set to level 8 during the right conditions, especially if it's affordable without going into perpetual deficit or debt.
As of May 17th 2025, Research Spending now boosts efficiency of research.