Hello fellow space conquerers,
i recently bought the full GalCiv2 pack. Currently im playing my 3rd sandbox game on the newest expansion. First let me say, this game is a blast and although its quite complex, relatively easy to understand. But as i progressed deeper into the game, few things still puzzle me.
a) Trade goods:
Do those contribute to your own civilization if you dont trade them? Do they contribute to everyone who posseses/recieves them? Some of those are quite massive (+15% morale, +100% hull for example) so this is a big deal in my current game.

Espionage:
Does the funding one allocates to espionage ONLY influence the rate of Spy-"Spawning"? Doesnt it generally raise the counter-espionage-efforts or the general espionage level on other races? Im asking because my agents get nullified quite fast by the "other" race, making it very expensive to train them.
c) Approval
What exactly affects approval besides taxes, population, and the various morale improvements/techs? This is a complete mystery to me. Not that im having big problems, due to a good economy and focussing on morale-boosting techs i can keep control. But sometimes the approval rating jumps a few points without any major events, and i dont know why.
Im sure some of those questions, if not all, have been answered before. But im asking in humble manner to run it down for me. Also, sorry for spelling and ortography, english is not my native language.

Big thanks for answers! Awesome game.