Quote Originally Posted by Dorkus
IMO, markets are a TERRIBLE idea. At least if your goal is "game success" rather than "game experience." They add trivial amounts to trade income. Check the settlement details screen to see for yourself.
I build markets religiously, and always win on VH, so they can't be that bad.

The more income you get from your provinces, the bigger the army you can support.

A ten turn payback on an investment is actually quite good. Certainly better than leaving the money lying around or building junk troops. Once I have my provinces upgraded enough, I can support a constant production of high quality troops and constant loading of my building queues. Eventually, I always hit a point where my economy is no longer an issue. I can buy whatever I want. I probably can also make high quality troops in 5 or 6 cities. At that point, you go win the game.

Overpopulation simply is not that big a problem for me except in a few cities since v1.2. Moreover, in most cities for most of the game, population growth is a good thing. If you are dealing with persistent population problems throughout your empire, I think the answer is probably focusing on converting your economic muscle to military advantage (aka winning the game) faster.