I'm experimenting with having my traders set on some circular routes. The hope is they move stuff around to even out the planets. To be fair though the main thing I want moved is food.
I have
all of my planets linked in a complex network of interlocking trade routes. It does not seem to be evening resources out; it seems to be pooling them in a fairly patterned way (presumably determined by the pattern of subsidies, stockpiles, exact trade fleet sizes, and trade incentives on each route).
It makes sense if you think about it. On large planets, a few BFs buying food isn't going to radically change the price of food. The next BFs will buy it, and move on to the same next planet as well. Over time this might balance out, or it might result (as it seems to be for me) in all the steel being on one or two planets, all the food on one or two others, and all the quatloos on some others.
Which has actually been very convenient for me, as the planets where food gets dumped are generally the ones that need it. Steel intensive planets build arcs, quatloo intensive planets build subspacers. I send out lots of fleets to my one or two concentration points... and I have over 1,000,000 steel saved up on one planet with almost that amount again scattered around my empire.
Of course... no sum of steel will overcome the scout defense.
Dave--- are you ever going to fix the scout defense?