So you understand why weak economies are so common. A lot of people see very little point in building a hood economy.
It costs several billion to buy 500x each of the best store items, and a few billion more if you decide to buy the defensive items in addition to the items with stronger attack. Have you done that? Players with a weak IPH can't even think of doing such a thing, and if you're not taking advantage then that is your decision to waste the opportunity.
Who says expensive LTBs are gone? There have to be cheap ones sometimes, and there can be more expensive buildings at other times. They can't all be cheap or all be expensive. Have you upgraded all of your existing expensive LTBs to level 10? If not then you still have expensive LTBs to take advantage of.
Purchasable weapons from SLTQs are gone, yes. Unless you have some insider information, how do you know they're gone permanently?
People keep bringing up the fact this mod exists commonly in other Gree titles. So what? Play the other titles then. The fact this mod doesn't get given away like free candy is one of the things that keep this game from being a copy with a different skin. MW is not identical to CC and steps to make them more similar are unnecessary. If you like MW, play it. If you like CC, play it. If you want to play two accounts of the same game, do it, but the two different games don't need to be made identical in every way.
Back to my point, having a strong hood economy is an advantage whether you realize it or not. If you do not realize it the advantage will be limited. Not every syndicate can afford nearly $1 Trillion for syndicate bonuses 5-10. In app cash purchases scale to IPH, not every player can buy several billion dollars for $50.
Everyone had the same chance, and many chose not to take advantage. How does that in any way imply you are at any less of an advantage? Your choices give you an advantage over some that make different choices.