-Instead of directly increasing poverty junk food tax should increase food prices.
-Follow up to that, there should be a link between food prices and poverty…I’m surprised that it took me this long to notice this one, so once more for the people in the back cough THERE SHOULD BE A LINK BETWEEN FOOD PRICES AND POVERTY
-Minimum wage’s link to unemployment needs an extra step. It should raise wages, and there should be a link from wages back to unemployment. Generally any time something is more expensive people find ways to consume less of it, but it’s a slower process. This is why minimum wage increase in real life do not produce sudden jumps in unemployment.
-Minimum wage should also increase industrial automation. Since it’s the lowest value labour being made more expensive and this is the labour which is most easily automated a link would make sense.
-Payroll tax should not directly suppress wages. The employee doesn’t care what taxes their employer pays, if they have leverage to demand a raise they will demand a raise. Instead the link from this and industrial automation could be strengthened in lieu of a link to wages.
-Speed cameras and CCTV should slightly increase industrial automation. The use of cameras for law enforcement is quite literally replacing a person with a machine.
-Quantitative easing and Helicopter money both need another look at their outputs. Currently I implement both (when available) and leave them set to minimum. Doing this is free GDP, free opinion, and a free chunk out of poverty with no down side other than being two policies closer to bureaucracy.
-GDP needs a MUCH stronger link to unemployment. This game severely underestimates the hiring of the private sector.
-Hybrid car and electric car programs shouldn’t directly improve the environment. Instead their benefit should be modeled through the electric car transition, which should mitigate the environmental harm of car usage.
-The alcohol and tobacco bans have some of their outputs crossed up. They should not boost organized crime at low levels, but should curve to a strong input at high levels. They should have a notable impact on alcohol and tobacco usage at low levels, and the benefit should taper off. This is because de-normalizing something in public spaces works, but prohibition does not. Please take another look at the outputs of these policies.
-The energy industry is too sensitive to government policy. Things like micro-generation grants hurt it too much. The industry includes production and distribution of energy equipment. Everyone have solar panels on their roofs might result in less need for centralized power stations with heavy distribution infrastructure, but the production and distribution of micro generation equipment, as well as the labour to install and maintain it would be a substantial industry of its own.
That’s it for today, probably more later.