provinces trade with other provinces and countries trade with other countries.

How does it work?

Well every province has three levels of wanting a commodity.
1. need
2. demand
3. satisfied

If a province needs a commodity it will buy it nomatter what the price is. Also a city will always consume the number of goods it needs.
If a province demands a good it will only bye it if the price is not too high.
If the province gets satisfied in one type of good it will not establish any traderouts to get it.

Every city will also produce goods. The economic model decides how much of this goods that will go on to the 'provincial market'. For example in a very capitalistic system all the goods that aren't consumed will go to the provincial market. In a very simple economic system maybe just around 40 % of the goods not consumed will go to the provincial market.
The provincial market is the basic economic unit. It's simply a list of all goods to be traded within the country. The prize are determined bye the initial prize and the travelling cost from the selling provincial capital to the countries capitol (this is why capitols get richer than other cities). Every province has the chance of setting up temporary traderouts to get those goods they demand for the lowest prize. They use money they have already got from trade or they exchange goods.

A traderoute is an agreement that holds some information like:
- type of good
- prize
- quantity
- the route on the map

When a troude routs is made the goods will appear in the buying city next turn, unless someone is piracing.

quote: Originally posted by Stuff2 on 08-03-2000 12:14 PM Well every province has three levels of wanting a commodity. 1. need 2. demand 3. satisfied If a province needs a commodity it will buy it nomatter what the price is. Also a city will always consume the number of goods it needs. If a province demands a good it will only bye it if the price is not too high. If the province gets satisfied in one type of good it will not establish any traderouts to get it.

Also beyond satified there should be something like "Glut" where you're trying to get rid of it. FE you can produce wheat and not want to trade it, even though you can, because you want to store some up or you use it all. That's where "Glut" comes in. Only when there is "Glut" will you be able to trade.

quote: Originally posted by Stuff2 on 08-03-2000 12:14 PM Goods that don't gets sold goes to the next level of trade. The global market. This works just like the provincial market except that there is now only countries that bye and sell goods. The goods will travel between the nearest provincial capitols between the countries and that is where the routs will be established.

Thanks for putting all the thought into this! But I think the model we already have does what yours aims at, and more. In addition to what is in the Econ model, you should look in the long-dormant Current state of merchant agents? thread. It describes in more detail the way we are heading. Sorry I don't have time to comment more now, but I have a lot of things I need to do tonight.