I see.
That is an interesting approach. Why did they not simply give less starting armies and allow you to choose to either build an army or grow your economy. That would be a little more realistic that putting the known world in financial ruin at the start of the game... It might also have the effect of the computer AI attacking factions that it would not normally attack because A) It has a lot of troops anyway and B) It needs the money.
This might account for some of the AI problems people have mentioned with a faction either going insane and conquering all, or just sitting there doing nothing...

-Dampiel-