You are the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, gambling, Class A drugs — they are already being consumed. The only question is whether the state shapes those markets, or abandons them to criminal ones.
Most policy games fudge the numbers. Vice Chancellor runs a genuine bond-graph welfare accounting engine — the same framework used by HM Treasury analysts. Every cost has to go somewhere on the ledger.
Welfare flows are physically conserved. Prohibition doesn't make health costs disappear — it moves them from the duty revenue line to the crime and enforcement lines while making harm multipliers worse. The model shows that, rather than telling it.
Closed-form, economically grounded consumer demand modelling. Cross-price substitution is real: tax cannabis too hard and alcohol demand rises. Legalise MDMA and alcohol consumption falls. Nothing is independent.
The k₀ parameter models joint-rolling as a literal flow between two markets, with its own dynamics that decay as vapes and edibles take over. Tobacco duty and cannabis regulation are not independent levers.
Per-substance harm multipliers evolve between periods. Sustained regulation compounds at −2%/year. Sustained prohibition deteriorates at +1.5%/year. A chancellor who regulates early earns lower costs in years 30–50.
Youth consumption today becomes the adult health burden in two periods. A two-period lag queue feeds back into senior health multipliers. Your choices compound across generations.
Surplus treasury revenue can be reinvested into healthcare capacity via the Budget Allocator. Run deficits and the capacity ceiling tightens, doubling the penalty for excess health costs. Fiscal prudence protects the NHS.
| Feature | What It Does | Real-World Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 🏛️ Political Capital | Regime changes cost capital based on how radical the shift is. Regenerates each period based on welfare performance. | Political economy constraints on reform pace |
| ⚖️ Cabinet Advisors | CMO, Home Secretary, Treasury PPS and an Independent Expert give conflicting advice from their own priorities each period. | Real cabinet dynamics — they don't agree |
| 🗞️ Random Events | 15 events including fentanyl crises, cannabis reform studies, NHS strikes, backbench revolts, and Portugal-model breakthroughs. | Policy environments are never static |
| 📊 Do-Nothing Baseline | Welfare is measured as delta vs. a counterfactual where nothing changes. You're judged on marginal impact, not raw numbers. | HM Treasury Green Book methodology |
| 📜 Green Book Report | A full HM Treasury-style analytical document at the end of your tenure — 50-year NPV, cohort analysis, policy configuration. | MacPherson Report + Green Book framework |