Sudden Economic Decline

[Coconut Kid]

... Use the Info tool and click on the rainfall view several times to view not just current rain, but average rain, average soil moisture and soil quality. ..., having several farms in different areas of the island will even out production enough to handle any intermittent dry spells.

Keeping a steady flow of income is the keystone of a successful balance for the economy half of the Tropico gameplay skill. Do what you will with the political half to live the vicarious life of a tyrant, but you have to keep the money coming - or move to the sandbox.

You can preset the island to fit an industry which exploits it:

• The Forest
• The Minerals
• The Ranches
• The Farms \ Plantations
• The Fisheries
• The Tourists
• A Wise Combination

However, each requires a thorough understanding of its characteristics (in the game world) to manage it. It is courting disaster to rush in making assumptions based on your 'real-world' experience without understanding that those assumptions may not work. You have to be ready to learn from your gameplay - do not regard frequent rides in the rowboat as disasters. They are the means of becoming a mature and successful dictator. Each rowboat trip qualifies you for another "hash mark" on your dress uniform coat sleeve. The "Crossed-Oars" award, with clusters!

The farms \ plantations require careful analysis of the land. It's too bad that the developers did not provide more explicit information on the difference between soil moisture and soil quality -- in the game world.

Soil Moisture has to do with the rainfall which has a pattern and frequency. "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain" and all that.

Soil Quality has a base which is generated by the part of the game engine which "spins-up" the terrain of the island. That is to say there is an essential link between the terrain and the soil 'quality.' You can NOT change the ordinary soil quality with the "Paint Tool" of the editor. That tool allows you to change the nature of the surface between broader categories. In the game world of T1, the crops do not change the 'quality' of the soil -- no depletion from what is grown. (That concept was added in T3.) What seems undiscovered true is that the soil quality is lowered by pollution which is radiated from buildings [Farms & Ranches radiate some pollution, and that mimics crop depletion of the soil. All crops are equal, so rotation is almost useless.] and concentrations of people. So, besides the stumps they leave, using Logging Camps to clear land for farms and plantations is counter-productive because they pollute the ground - lowering the soil quality.

Think about it.  

[Coconut Kid]

Quote is Edited for Clarity.

Had a great game going (In the only other game I have taken to 2000, the economy did not behave this way.) -- great economy, healthy rum exporting business and plenty of other food and export crops, happy people, and a growing tourist industry,
>> then in the space of two years, my $50K surplus [treasury balance?] vanished and became a deficit; and I plunged so far into debt, I had no real hope of getting out in the 8 years remaining. My farms still seemed to be producing and the teamsters working, but what was very profitable only a few years [before] stopped producing enough income. Has anyone else seen a sudden, hard-to-explain economic crash in the late game?

Question is posed over ONE game. The collapse took place in only two years - apparently beginning 1990. The poster did not respond at all to any of the other posts; none of which actually dealt with the question. Without being able to examine the actual game, it is impossible to be realistic about what the problem was. Probably, it was a one-off corrupted file.

All the responders got wrapped up in their favorite economic problem solvers which apply over the whole course of the game - not just the last ten years. Some good hints, but they did not have anything to do with the question.