Second Sphere Trade

Economic Integration

AKA your Trade Index.

The Trade Index is a measure of how tightly a nation is connected to (and thus dependent upon) the galactic economy. This allows a nation to take advantage of the efficiencies of scale that can only be gained from a multi-world market. This has benefits in the economic sphere, most notably reducing the costs associated with growing the economy as well as mobilizing it, as many components can simply be ordered offworld for cheaper.

Of course, the flipside to this is that worlds tightly woven into the galatic trade routes are also vulnerable to disruptions, both deliberate and accidental. Even mild sanctions can cause problems for a high Index nation, whereas one with a 0 will ignore them like the words they are.

All is not all bad for low-Index states though. Beyond the (near)immunity to economic toomfoolery, Morale-based effects are more effective.

Tentative base values:

Magnates: 0

League: 2-3

ZOCU/Indies: 5-6

Core: 8-10

Treasure Fleets

Treasure fleets are essentially the use of ships to convert IP into Wealth.

Return rates are inversely related to the target's Trade Index (because distant places are better markets for your exotic doodads) as well as the time since you last visited (because the market gets saturated easily)