Jedi and New Republic, though I liked the design of the Imperial ships. Reminds me: Star Wars Empire at War is only 12 dollars on steam man, and its a solid effing game
How did I know you would choose Jedi you sweet man you! Worth the 12 $ eh, I might just go check that out.
Blew up a planet with full population, killed all the Jedi, killed their way to power, killed whoever opposed them. Evil.
The Empire assumed power from the Republic which was a loose trade conglomeration and military pact among hundreds of alien races. They'd be doing only as well as their home planets could manage, which ranges from average to good in most cases save for the backwater worlds away from the trade routes. The Empire created a lot of military projects so I'd assume that helped the overall galactic economy.
The Empire was run by the Sith man, it was evil. Shitty times for the Galaxy of a long long time ago.