Star Wars: 10 Reasons The Galactic Empire Wasn't As Bad As Everyone Thinks
8. Economy & Employment Benefits
Whatever you think of the Empire in terms of ethics and morality its incredibly difficult to argue they didnt have a positive effect on the construction and design industries. Everything Palpatine wanted had to be built by someone, thus creating jobs and injecting cash into the economy. The Death Star itself was a huge undertaking, constructing such a huge space station would have taken hundreds of thousands of workers; meanwhile it could also carry over a million crew and armed forces. Then you can factor in other large scale projects, such as the Sun Crusher, as well as the vast shipyards building Star Destroyers and Tie Fighters. Its likely that all of these construction jobs would have required vast amounts of manpower, giving millions of citizens steady jobs so that they would be able to look after their families. Of course, you also have to factor in all of the extra work created from maintaining such a large Imperial Navy; Stormtroopers were in constant supply to protect worlds. However, it isnt just jobs that the Empire is providing, these types of projects are incredibly expensive and are an effective way of redistributing wealth amongst the galaxy. With estimates that the Death Star would have cost just less than one quadrillion dollars it is perfectly clear the government is not hoarding money from the public but rather spending to drive the economy and fighter unemployment.
