I am really not enjoying the approval system. I do like having an approval system, however the economic penalty I do not enjoy.  It takes away from having specialist planets. Nothing can kill the buzz of colonizing a 50%+ research planet like having to devote a ton of markets to keep the people happy, or taking away from research towards the economic point of the triangle. 

On another level, why is econ so important to the populations happiness? If it is a manufacturing or research specialist planet those citizens hare being paid, they obviously have work in the factory or lab. Or is the whole point to make us have all the planets very simular and not have specalist planets? That would be a huge bummer