[Suggestions] New World Census Stats

[East Gondwana]

I know the developers have a LOT on their plate, and new categories for World Census measurements are hardly at the top of their list of priorities, but I'd like to share a suggestion for a new statistic that might be interesting/fun:

Poverty Rate: this might make things more interesting because there's no (canon) valuation of a nation's currency, so we don't know for sure just how wealthy a nation's people are in real terms. Not do we know the cost of living, so high incomes and and/or taxes are difficult to interpret in terms of quality of life.

What do you guys think? And what suggestions might you have?

[Xaviena]

That would actually be a pretty interesting feature.

[Merconitonitopia]

It's implied that the SMU valuation of a country's GDP/income is measuring purchasing power. In econometric jargon, it would be in PPP, rather than nominal. The description for 'Average Income' reads: 'The World Census carefully compared the average spending power of citizens in each nation.' Hence, cost of living should already be baked into the cake.

A poverty rate rate wouldn't tell us much that we don't already know. If it measures poverty in absolute terms, we already have 'Average Income of Poor.' If in relative terms, we already have 'Wealth Gaps.'

[Bormiar]

"Cost of living" could be a great stat.

[Merconitonitopia]

"Cost of living" could be a great stat.

What would that even mean in the context of NS? 'Cost of living' is a meaningless idea without reference to a given standard of living and a common currency (e.g. 'how many units of currency x are needed to purchase basket of goods y?').

At any rate, as I have said, it's already implied that all NS currencies have a roughly equivalent purchasing power/exchange value, i.e. one 'Standard Monetary Unit.' Hence the cost of living is already taken into account.

[Unibot III]

I’m going to get philosophical for a minute, forgive me.

I think one of the sources of untapped potential for the game’s analytics lies in the limitations of the “nation-state” concept. Countries in NationStates are conceived as homogenous ethnic nations that grow only through population growth; meanwhile the state and its leadership is unquestionably revered. Of course the reality is countries are multi-ethnic and multicultural, they rely on immigration, and the population’s trust in governing institutions and leaders can wane and be placed under stress from economic deprivation, labour displacement, and corruption.

The NationStates of 2002 predates the transformation of the political landscape - the backlash to globalization and the knowledge economy. In turn, it’s not as current of a satire of government as it could be. I would anticipate measures of openness to immigration, fear (probably the most important measure on this list), trust in government and the press, national pride, mental health and depression, alcoholism, gentrification, and cultural and social polarization.

Of course it wouldn’t be NationStates if these measures weren’t satirical and focused on things like tinfoil hats, non-fat caramel macchiatos, podcast subscriptions, and trailer parks.

[Merconitonitopia]

the state and its leadership is unquestionably revered. Of course the reality is countries are multi-ethnic and multicultural, they rely on immigration, and the population’s trust in governing institutions and leaders can wane and be placed under stress from economic deprivation, labour displacement, and corruption. ... I would anticipate measures of openness to immigration, fear (probably the most important measure on this list), trust in government and the press, national pride, mental health and depression, alcoholism, gentrification, and cultural and social polarization.

A NationStates where you had to worry about things like the government's popularity would be fun, but it would also go against the spirit of the game in the same that an in-game war system would. NS is a sandbox. That doesn't mean that you don't have to worry about things like the economy or crime, but no matter what direction you take your country, your citizens sit on their hands and nod along. You're going to end up ousted from office because you legalised slavery. Likewise you can abolish the armed forces without being invaded the next day by a Psychotic Dictatorship.

I'm just thinking out loud (well, in text), but what would be best is if you could choose between a 'sandbox mode' and 'hard mode,' the former being the way NS is now, and the latter where you have to deal with elections and rebels and so. And a similar thing for an in-game war/geopolitics system.

[Unibot III]

the state and its leadership is unquestionably revered. Of course the reality is countries are multi-ethnic and multicultural, they rely on immigration, and the population’s trust in governing institutions and leaders can wane and be placed under stress from economic deprivation, labour displacement, and corruption. ... I would anticipate measures of openness to immigration, fear (probably the most important measure on this list), trust in government and the press, national pride, mental health and depression, alcoholism, gentrification, and cultural and social polarization.

A NationStates where you had to worry about things like the government's popularity would be fun, but it would also go against the spirit of the game in the same that an in-game war system would. NS is a sandbox. That doesn't mean that you don't have to worry about things like the economy or crime, but no matter what direction you take your country, your citizens sit on their hands and nod along. You're going to end up ousted from office because you legalised slavery. Likewise you can abolish the armed forces without being invaded the next day by a Psychotic Dictatorship.

I'm just thinking out loud (well, in text), but what would be best is if you could choose between a 'sandbox mode' and 'hard mode,' the former being the way NS is now, and the latter where you have to deal with elections and rebels and so. And a similar thing for an in-game war/geopolitics system.

I wasn't thinking so much in terms of popularity or the threat of deposition, more the population's attitude to state institutions, authorities, and immigration. The idea that the economic decisions that a country makes can lead to citizens not trusting other citizens, or the media, or 'big government'. A "Most Popular Leader" Census would be fun, sure (and without substantive consequences to players), but I'm more thinking in terms of factors that measure social, cultural and political instability. NationStates is based around homogeneous nation-states and their distinct political economies but a lot of satire today focuses on the national divisions within states.

[Bears Armed]

I wasn't thinking so much in terms of popularity or the threat of deposition, more the population's attitude to state institutions, authorities, and immigration. The idea that the economic decisions that a country makes can lead to citizens not trusting other citizens, or the media, or 'big government'.

It needs a better economic system first, one in which nations whose governments have destroyed their national economies (down to Imploded or 'Basket Case') can not somehow still top the tables for matters such as public spending on Healthcare or Education... Even with taxation at "100%", a destroyed economy doesn't leave anything to tax to finance that intended expenditure...

[Merconitonitopia]

I wasn't thinking so much in terms of popularity or the threat of deposition, more the population's attitude to state institutions, authorities, and immigration. The idea that the economic decisions that a country makes can lead to citizens not trusting other citizens, or the media, or 'big government'.

It needs a better economic system first, one in which nations whose governments have destroyed their national economies (down to Imploded or 'Basket Case') can not somehow still top the tables for matters such as public spending on Healthcare or Education... Even with taxation at "100%", a destroyed economy doesn't leave anything to tax to finance that intended expenditure...

The problem is that the 'Economy' stat is a vestigial relic from a bygone era. When the economy system was being reworked some years ago, and income/GDP was added, it had essentially no relationship with 'Economy.'
There's a certain class of nations in NS. Old socialist countries that who lousy economies (according the 'Economy' stat), but which are top 1% in healthcare, education, etc. (Most had permanently 'imploded' economies for years, but sometime ago things were reconfigurated such that having a flatlined economy is basically impossible).
Tzo, Kindjal, Timao come to mind.
Here's the thing. If you look at their stats, you will find that, in spite of their economies being bad on paper, they usually have high average incomes. Hence why they can afford to fund things. Tzo and Kindjal are both bottom 10% for 'Economy,' but top 3% for 'Average Income.'