Just bought the game, might not start playing for quite a while.

Topic: Algorithmic approach to "bad goes really bad fast", "winning stays winning".

Each and every force has an equal and opposing force, say many. Agreed.

WinningElections <-> LosingElections
BustlingEconomy <-> MoneySituationsSpirallingOutOfControl
Order <-> Disorder ~= entropy <-> oppositeOfEntropy

Linear spectra from "good" (e.g. 100%) <-verses-> "bad" (i.e. 0%)

Often there are unidentified, unrecognized, and unacknowledged correlating embedded spectrum

For example, taking the order verses disorder linear spectrum.
There is an interweaving, intertwined, entangled force and opposing force which is overlooked.

Mathematical description (hopefully engineering algorithmic recipes already exist):

Consider order verses disorder, scaling perfect order, at +100 and perfect disorder, at -100.
Balance of order/disorder rests at 0.

Balance = 0 is now opposed by a force of PerfectlyFarFromBalanced = either -100 or +100.

Force towards perfectBalance is opposed by force away from perfectBalance.

Balance = 0 <-verses-> Sum of absoluteValue(order) + absoluteValue(DISorder).

This typically ignored force and opposing force, is often non-linear, and may have many discrete variable/value extremes.

Imagine this dynamic as scalar lines away from central point, dispersed toward 360 degree circle (each radius is one of these force verses opposing force pairs).

"I can believe it" is true illustration: Two magnets with poles.
Align the poles in one way, and the mysterious seemingly magic forces go straight line toward each other.
Align the magnets with poles in opposition, one magnet goes anyway and everywhere away from the opposite magnet.

Not only that, often the balance=0 <-> order=+100 and balance=0 <-> disorder=-100 magnitude equations may vary wildly.
Equation/formula from 0 to +100 may be straight line linear.
Equation/formula from 0 to -100 may be only exponential.
And the curves from 0 to +100 may vary wildly, as well. From 0 to 10, exponential, 10 to 75 linear, etc ...

Nearly impossible to analyze and/or reverse engineer, even if we know it is there.
Which explains the reason(s) these "mysterious" monkey wrench in the works forces are mostly only never noticed.

Second (loosely related) Topic Number 2:
If I were doing the coding toward reality, I would embed, a mystery factor applied to every discrete value measurement (representing the "yet undiscovered equation(s)/formulae".

Instead of dollars = 5.00, dollars*mysteryFactor =5.00.

All of these mystery factors would be initially "zeroed", in relational database style.
All many or one or none, to, many or one or none relationships begin with singular, centralized, default "zeroed-out" (made negligible) state, with a single related pair.
Equation/Factor ID=1 is set to ? * 1.0, where the corresponding value of "?" is also set to 1.

Overall, default initial game instance "start" has "?" * 1.0 for all these force/OpposingForce(s).
Can be left permanently at 1.0, for "very easy" player option.

Can become as fancy, complex, complicated, and bizarrely absurd as your free associated mind may wander (or you have time to actually code).

If this were a game development team with a $700,000,000 annual budget, something such as artificial intelligence (self-balancing or self-offBalancing) "neural networks" might be considered.

Much less complicated, would be to replace the "?" portion of equation/formulas with a simple random number generated, with many (per save file) random number "roots".

Hope this helps. Makes my own head spin, simply imagining the reality, coding might be worse. Yet I believe it might resolve your quest for reality styled balance of economy gets really really bad really really fast, but might kind of hover around ok/decent to "pretty good" state.

Because ok/decent to "pretty good" is more or less easy to monitor/manage linear.
While bad to awful to zombieNightmareEconomy is ... well, ... designed/developed to be entirely unpredictable and un-manageable.

My self focused reason for these topic consideration discussions, is, so I can play an awesomely realistic simulation. Thank-you for the hope. Purchased the (early access) product during the holiday discount.