Here's an idea: You know how in almost all strategy games (especially turn-based ones) like GalCiv you occasionally get to a point where you're getting BEAT, your enemies have surrounded you, they're chipping away at your infrastructure, your economy is dying, you're past bankrupt and you can't afford any more combat units?

How about under certain campaign scenarios you have the option of declaring Economic Doomsday (or a less dramatic name, Extreme Wartime Measures)? This would be something that only occurs under specific requirements. Basically, you're about to be wiped out, and so (theoretically) it means you and the people in charge conscript massive amounts of your population to fight, you force corporations to build ships for free, etc. Basically, this only occurs (better in dramatic missions where defeat means the universe dies) in very rare occasions, and has BAD consequences after the war is over. Sure, you get to build certain units for free, but after the war, defection/instability increases rapidly, and you'll probably suffer a defeat in the polls.