I have pondered this for a bit and have come to the conclusion over:
XOOC: Grimreaperx15(SystemAdmin): Xenos do not understand economic systems in general.
Basic primates are in fact able to recognize investment. There have been studies with low level “2 bananas now or 3 bananas later”, along with a basic bartering system where they can trade unfavorable food for ones they like better.
With Xenos, I recall some story where the queen halts killing of some marines in order to ensure one of them gets a special queen hugger, and doesnt die with it, making it known they can barter and trade, and should be capable of investment concepts.
In this case, the queen is us, and we are the queen. We are taxing ourselves, which is really an investment, like “taxing” your paycheck and putting that money into the bank for more money later in retirement. The tax being building up resin structures instead of capping survivors.
IMO. Xenomorphs are intelligent enough to understand basic concepts relevant to their inherent desire to spread the species. They’d understand how it may be prudent to allow one host to live so as to lure in more hosts, more hosts are better than less hosts. You could then argue a xenomorph is making an ““investement”” in that they are allowing one host to survive in the hope this host causes more hosts to arrive for whatever reason.
However they clearly have no understanding of complex human economical models. Hardly any human understands them, and xenos have no reason to understand them. They are not stock traders.