Vicky took me a long time but its worth the wait..

Tips.

I find researching industrial techs before others helps followed by commercials.

When you have a surplus of machine parts, upgrade factories even if you dont have people to fill the slots. This bumps your efficiency output waaayy up. (I dont know why 5 people in a 50 man factory is better that 5 people in a 5 man factory but it works... )

Try and stake claims in places like the pacific island chains. You can wrangle a fortune out of the USA in an exchange deal!