New Economy System

To be honest, I think the system in the latest KW patch is just right. Placing refineries is extremely costly and only one harvester may dock at a time which caps the resources gathered from a field.

In the early stages of a game you can try to eco, rush or tech. Of course, if you decide to eco you will have better income, but this requires a lot of time and makes you vulnerable to a rush since the enemy can simply destroy your harvesters (which are the weak point in the economy). Or Nod can build an operation center, bring out a flametank and burn down all your structures.

And as you are going for eco requires you to build additional refineries, you need to get back the money you put into these refineries first.

Also, since you invest in further refineries, you deplete your field faster, but do not collect more Tiberium in the long term, so you also trade faster income for lower overall income.

So, I really think it's more or less balanced the way it is.