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Hello all, I'm back after several months hiatus...

Do I get this right - its $50 to start development in anything that currently has 0 level development?

If correct, then any province that starts with 0 Banks, will remain so forever, unless you are playing a 23 year game...add the dollars up to improve Banks and you will likely never see a profit [;)], since each time you upgrade adds more dollars on top of the 50...

Or am I missing something...?

That is correct (except for the bug that GIVES you $50 instead for several countries).

If you spend $50 to upgrade a bank, that gives you 10% more money return from the province, month after month. Ile de France produces 30 money each turn, so 10% more is 3 more. That gives a positive return in 17 months. Damascus produces 1 money each turn, so the return will be negative, as you suggest, for a much longer time.

I believe the numbers need to be modified to take into account the tax rate as well, so that is an issue to effect the cost-benefit analysis. A poor country with low taxes and high feudalism is less likely to want to invest in banks.

Yes I usually play Russia, and they have several provinces that start with 0 Bank development.

I used to upgrade those immediately, as there was no cost and it added a $1 per province to the coffers. Now however, with an initial $50 cost (yes I was aware of the bug giving $50 instead of costing - I ignored that of course, for my calculations), it likely makes no sense to upgrade those. It would take 50 months to ever see that $50 back, + whatever months it took to develop the improvement. 4+ years is a long time to go without that cash, and heaven forbid an enemy comes along that thrashes your investment with a little pillaging.

At the very least, its a long-term investment for poorer countries.

Russia seems to be one of the bug affected powers, hence right now the rule is a financial bonanza for them.  All those undeveloped provinces, +50g per province, ka-ching!  [:)]