@cseanny: We'll have to use different definitions then 
I only believe in holding back if teching now makes the difference in keeping us in the trade game and falling behind too much for that. Producing something gives immediate returns to us, researching something gives immediate returns to our opponents (tech cost reduction) and none to us unless it's currency or a prerequisite for something we need immediately.
Since few things we can build have the same long-term returns as settlers/workers/granaries, tech can wait for a long time... all those cities draining our economy dry as they built infrastructure will grow into usefulness. We can go from "negative GPT at 0 science, not just 0%" to "fastest-teching empire" in a surprisingly short time.
That said, keeping a handful of scientists works as a buffer so we don't shoot ourselves in the foot. The problem with pushing one's economy as hard as possible is that you risk a collapse if you make a slight mistake. Hilarious if this happens shortly before you'd have snagged Currency and ended all your worries.
@ Fippy: Bureaucracy certainly works in the favour of FIN. Already taken into account, but omitted in my example here since I wasn't sure how much detail to include. It seems my posts are already awkward to read.
Bureaucratic capitals tend to be commerce-heavy, especially so with FIN. The bonus
is multiplied by 1.5, resulting 
/
yields may be run through another multiplier above the norm. Like an academy or our single market. We'll easily net the equivalent of 5-10GPT (More in direct yields. We're standardising for gold for an easier comparison. It's worth keeping in mind that a lack of gold multipliers early on makes 1 saved more valuable than 1 gained. A Bureaucratic capital is the exception.).
For the high-cost civic, ORG saves a bit less than an additional 0.1/city and 0.04/population... unlikely to catch up before we have a dozen cities.
I only believe in holding back if teching now makes the difference in keeping us in the trade game and falling behind too much for that. Producing something gives immediate returns to us, researching something gives immediate returns to our opponents (tech cost reduction) and none to us unless it's currency or a prerequisite for something we need immediately.
Since few things we can build have the same long-term returns as settlers/workers/granaries, tech can wait for a long time... all those cities draining our economy dry as they built infrastructure will grow into usefulness. We can go from "negative GPT at 0 science, not just 0%" to "fastest-teching empire" in a surprisingly short time.
That said, keeping a handful of scientists works as a buffer so we don't shoot ourselves in the foot. The problem with pushing one's economy as hard as possible is that you risk a collapse if you make a slight mistake. Hilarious if this happens shortly before you'd have snagged Currency and ended all your worries.
@ Fippy: Bureaucracy certainly works in the favour of FIN. Already taken into account, but omitted in my example here since I wasn't sure how much detail to include. It seems my posts are already awkward to read.
Bureaucratic capitals tend to be commerce-heavy, especially so with FIN. The bonus
is multiplied by 1.5, resulting / yields may be run through another multiplier above the norm. Like an academy or our single market. We'll easily net the equivalent of 5-10GPT (More in direct yields. We're standardising for gold for an easier comparison. It's worth keeping in mind that a lack of gold multipliers early on makes 1 saved more valuable than 1 gained. A Bureaucratic capital is the exception.).For the high-cost civic, ORG saves a bit less than an additional 0.1/city and 0.04/population... unlikely to catch up before we have a dozen cities.
