In an ideal world, a colony will manage itself based on offer and demand. The private economy takes care of healthcare, education, entertainment and even security. It will not create Utopia, because that's not profitable, neither will the private sector be able to offset serious environmental challenges, because an ailing colony will not have sufficient professionals willing to work at profitable margins.

View all the measurable aspects of a colony's financial health from its statistics data center, which you will find near the bottom of the colony interface, just above the construction summary.

Generally, if the number of entrepreneurs is steady, then the colony is performing adequately. Entrepreneurs are people not needed in specific sectors and adequately educated to find their own niche. They are the ones who generate the real profits you can tax away. If their numbers don't get too low, there is some breathing room beyond the workload of such crucial roles as healthcare or security.

If sickness or crime are on the rise even though the number of that respective type of private employee is also rising, then you've got a problem.

Lowering taxes is often a good way to alleviate stress on the private economy. Another way is to build more facilities, but those require workers you will have to pay wages from your own coffers.

See also Government