What dantzig is trying to say is that specialization (picking one or two types of building and focusing on those) is key to running a good country. Specialization is better than constructing all types of buildings (known as a "rainbow strat") for three main reasons:
1) Building effectiveness - The production of some buildings is based on the percentage of land filled by them. For example, labs allow a country to produce more technology per turn. 500 labs on 1000 acres gives a country 101 tpt (tech per turn). 1000 labs on 1000 acres gives a country 263 tpt. Doubling the amount of labs resulted in a two and a half times increase in tpt. There are increasing returns to scale.
2) Government bonuses - Every government provides bonuses and penalties. The republic government provides +20% PCI, so that makes it a good choice for the casher strategy that dantzig referenced. In the casher strategy, a country buildings enterprise zones and residences to get a large tax revenue. The fascist government is a bad choice for the casher strategy because it decreases both PCI and population, but is a good choice for strategies that build farms or oil rigs.
3) Technology - Technology can be produced by techers or purchased off the public market. If a country constructs many types of buildings, it is difficult if not possible to increase all types of income tech. Whereas if a country only constructs farms, it can focus on buying agri tech and only agri tech.
Typically players pick a strategy before the round begins and try to achieve synergy between their buildings, government choice, and technology.
http://wiki.earthempires.com/...x.php/Category:Strategies
It is possible to start with a generic startup and transition into a dedicated strategy if you aren't sure what to play. For now, I would recommend simply experimenting with things. The express server is very short and you started late, which means that you will have less turns to use than other players. The express server resets in around 24 hours and will begin new in around 72 hours.