Economy panel
The economy panel contains information about the current state of the economy.
To be more precise, it presents the values of most significant economic variables in one table.
To see a sample game screen with the economy panel open, click
here.
Besides presenting the current values of variables,
the table also contains information about how a given variable's value has changed during the last turn.
The variables visible in this table include:
GDP
Gross Domestic Product. The total market value of all final goods and services produced
within a country in a year.
[1]
GDP Growth Rate
The rate of annual change of GDP given in percentage.
In “The economy, stupid!” this variable can give you a very general idea about the condition of the economy.
Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate is the ratio of the number of unemployed people to the number of all people in the society,
who can work. It is given in percentage. Rising unemployment rate will cause general dissatisfaction among voters.
It will also cause the wages in private sector to fall, which will cause further drop in the approval ratings,
but on the other hand will reduce inflation pressure and hence can cause inflation rate to fall.
Inflation Rate
The annual rate of increase of the average price level given in percentage.
Rising inflation will cause a drop in approval ratings and also a fall in investment.
It can also cause a rise in imports.
Both, falling investments and rising imports are not beneficial to the economy and will most
likely slow down the growth of production and thus will cause a rise in the unemployment rate.
Output
The total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a month.
In TES, this is basically the same thing as GDP except that it is calculated for each month.
The value is given in billion Euro.
Consumption
The monthly total personal consumption expenditure,
i.e., the purchase of currently produced goods and services out of income,
out of savings (net worth), or from borrowed funds.
[2]
The value is given in billion Euro.
Investment
The monthly total spending by business on items such as machines and buildings,
which can be used to produce goods and services in the future.
[3]
The value is given in billion Euro.
Exports
The monthly total of all goods or commodities, transported from the country to another
country in a legitimate fashion, typically for use in trade.
[4]
In TES this variable is an exogenous factor, meaning that you have absolutely no influence on it.
The value is given in billion Euro.
Imports
The monthly total of all goods or commodities,
brought into the country from another country in a legitimate fashion,
typically for use in trade.
[5]
The value is given in billion Euro.
Government Spending
The monthly total of all government purchases.
In TES, this includes social benefits and public sector funding.
The value is given in billion Euro.
Tax Revenues
The monthly total of all the revenues to the budget that come from taxes.
In TES, taxes are the only source of budget income.
The value is given in billion Euro.
The values of Output, Consumption, Investment, Exports, Imports, Government Spending and Tax Revenues
are given in nominal terms, so if the prices will rise, the values of those variables will rise as well.
However this will not necessarily mean, that the real values of these variables rises as well.
On the left side of every variable's name there is a “chart button” 
.
When you click it, you will see a chart depicting how the values of a given variable changed during the last twelve months.
The chart shows both nominal and real values, so you can have a clearer view of what is really going on.