My economic model:
Ships are removed, so no sea trade.
Land trade buildings give more income (by increasing value of trade goods).
Farm upgrades require technology (so 60% comes in high period, 80% in late period).
The Inn building costs 1 florin and 1 turn, and AI priority on it is set to max. It also acts as a significant farm upgrade now. Thus the AI builds it in every province they have.
I don't allow myself to build the Inn, and I destroy an Inns I take. This gives the AI extra money. (I play on Hard because I prefer better AI armies than a huge + to AI stats).
The castle upgrades are in one straight hierarchy so you have to build all of them one at a time. They take less turns to complete. This makes it less devastating when a castle downgrades from being lost, or when a province is taken while a castle is under construction.
Upkeep on all units is in proportion to their purchase price. This makes big armies of knights hard to upkeep, while cheaper units are easier. Royal Knights are free to upkeep, but they can't be purchased (they only come with princes).
Siege weapons and peasants removed for the sake of the AI.
Landbridges are added all over the place where crossings should be possible, to make up for no ships. (so for instance england can be entered from a lot more directions, as well as all the islands and such).
I realize those aren't all directly "economic" changes, but they all work together with the economic system in some way.
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