Given the starting state of Skyrim when you begin the game, it seems to me that the economy should vary (and mostly improve) as you play. In certain cases, it *might* get worse (more on this below).

I mean, when you start out, every fort, mine and cave in cyrodiil is controlled by bandits and such, there's a full blown civil war going on, etc. The economy should be in shambles. As you start clearing out mines, so they can re-open, purging bandits and necromancers from their lairs, the land should get more peaceful and the economy should improve.

If you choose a side in the civil war, arguably the economy might get a bit worse, as you kill off lots of enemy soldiers (which means they aren't around to buy goods and services or have the legion buy those goods and services on their behalf; some of them might have only been militiamen - that is, they have "day jobs", but once dead, can no longer tend their farm or forge, or whatever.

Still, one of the things which inevitably happens in Elder Scrolls games is you bring back all this fat loot from your adventures, and sell it for a fraction of what it's worth to greedy bastard merchants. How could they possibly NOT get rich, buying all that bargain loot and selling it for 2-3X what they bought it for?

Don't see how the Dragonborn's actions are going to 'improve' the real economy. I can see how the Dragonborn is going to benefit the minority which is still living relatively comfortable by rushing about killing the unemployed who have occupied various unused facilities around the country and looting tombs. Even the beggars in the cities are more comfortable than most of the bandits. The bandits are always happy to see my character, because they want the gold to pay off bounties or buy mead. The necromancers, conjurers, witches, etc. are just defending themselves from what they reasonably believe is an attack by someone who has not been outcast and who has close connections with the people who drove them out.

I love OP's ideas.

But don't expect anything. Bethesdas views on economy derives from a class in 'Planned Economy - Soviet Style' the developers took back in '89.

If it's ever going to get better, they need to implement a thing called 'taxes' - which, of course, is way too complicated for Bethesda and the average player to deal with.

They all respawn the enemies.

Economies in all RPGs are broken, not just this one. They have to be broken to make a game really. Money needs to be scarce so players don't just buy everything a character needs with one dungeon raid. It is this requirement that drives the economies and makes them the way that they are.

I kind of like how in Mount and Blade: Warband when you start off it's a 6-way civil war with bandits outnumbering everyone and running amok. The economic system is very complex in that game and each city has a valuation and other attributes. At the start every city is broke as hell because of all the wars/bandits, but if you follow the path of becoming king and take over the land, all the wars end and the armies are free to run around stomping bandits. The end result is that the cities become rich, the bandits are taken care of and as far as I'm concerned a renaissance occurs from all the schools you build.

I think he means that after you clear out a mine or fort it should be put back into use, which makes eminent sense since the knowledge that it's now safe to go back in there would attract folks looking to make their fortunes (or cheat others out of theirs, as the case may be). Also, I wouldn't call the starting economical situation 'broken', since it should be difficult to make much headway while you're still trying to restore a given area, but rather that what's 'broken' is that it never revives/improves no matter how much valuable crap you pump into it or how many mines/farms/whatever you make able to be worked again.

One benefit of implementing something like this is that it could be used as a sink for the massive fortunes one acquires at higher levels, as well as a means of using the player's immense personal fortune as a means of helping whichever side he/she chooses to back in the Civil War. For that matter, those who want to revive the Blades could pay to restore Skyhaven Temple, which would likely prove rather expensive given the size of the place and the amount of work needed.