I'm playing on Insane/Abundant with Nassie's mod that changes LEP to -0.2 Money/Planet. Currently on about 120 colonies, running a deficit of -700 credits/turn despite dozens of marketplace worlds. Still expanding.
To finance my deficit, I've been taking full advantage of comparative advantage: I'm better at specializing my worlds (especially my research worlds) whereas the AI gets massive economic bonuses due to being on God-like difficulty. Consequently for the last 30 turns or so I've been trading my research and resources to the AI for money to stave off bankruptcy and to finance further expansion. In other words, even with the unrefined tools currently like the trading screen, I'm mimicking a modern day economy with debt financing.
Is there a way to extend this economic concept with interstellar stock markets, interest rates, and bonds? Is it possible to expand the economic aspects of the game where it's possible to create complex economical systems BETWEEN multiple nations? To make Gal Civ III sort of like Eve Online (where war is a big part, but secondary to economic growth?).
Stardock already has things like Offworld Trading Company. They already have games that model economics. So why not extend it to Gal Civ III and make its economic system more complex and similar to Eve Online or real-world economies?
The fun part about Gal Civ III is economic growth and management. The whole "war" part is sort of boring. War should be of secondary importance compared to economics. Violence is the first resort of losers.