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Questions tagged [economics]

A social science that looks at the distribution of wealth in a society and assumes that changes in supply and demand of a scarce resource may be reasonably predicted.

46 votes
3 answers
13k views

Why are there cargo ships in the Star Trek universe when they have replicators?

Why are there cargo ships in the Star Trek stories? With replicator technology and FTL communication, there is no need for cargo ships. You can just transmit the computer files on how to replicate ...
user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

If the modern world was in the Imperium of Man, what Tithe would it pay? [closed]

All worlds in the Imperium of Man must pay a tithe to the high lords of Terra in resources, men or some other asset. The modern world seems to be a civilised world and lexicanum associates that with ...
Servitor's user avatar
  • 2,618
31 votes
3 answers
4k views

Does the Federation have anything resembling intellectual property laws or agreements?

I know Star Trek is set in a post-scarcity economy based partly on replicator technology, which makes the expensive items of today (e.g., fashionable clothes, fast cars, beautiful furniture) ...
user avatar
55 votes
6 answers
15k views

Why are credits "no good" on Tatooine?

This question got me thinking, about the nature of currency and space. When Qui-Gon tries to buy ship parts from Watto he gets this response. Qui-Gon Jinn: I have twenty thousand Republic dataries....
Jeremy French's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
160 views

How does the wizarding economy work in Harry Potter? [duplicate]

Let me start of this question by clarifying some things about the population of wizarding Britain. According to the answers to this question, nobody asserts that the population of wizarding britain ...
SleepingGod's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
537 views

In Kin-Dza-Dza! why are matches so precious?

Matches, aka Ketse, is the most valuable currency in the Kin-Dza-Dza universe, and even half a match is enough to buy a transportation device. The setting is dystopian/resource depleted ("we used our ...
SE - stop firing the good guys's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
722 views

Earth living standards in the light of the "Cascade"

In the 10th episode of the second season of The Expanse, "Cascade", Gunnery Sergeant Draper ("Gunny") escapes from the MCR embassy on Earth to see the ocean. On the way, she meets some poor Earthers. ...
b.Lorenz's user avatar
  • 2,878
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

How does economy in City of Ember work?

The question popped in my head since I got to the part where shopkeepers wait in line before the store house to get goods for their store. Here is some background story: The city of Ember has a ...
Haha TTpro's user avatar
62 votes
8 answers
13k views

What was the value of the Shire and everything in it?

We know for a fact — leastways, according to Mithrandir — that a certain corslet of mithril chainmail would be valued more than the Shire and everything in it: ‘What?’ cried Gimli, startled out of ...
can-ned_food's user avatar
  • 1,785
11 votes
1 answer
605 views

Seeking a pair of stories about an idealist who discovers that winning a revolution doesn't change the stark economic facts

Sometime around the late 1980s, I checked out a science fiction anthology from a library. (The stories were written in English.) I don't remember if all the stories were by the same author, but two of ...
Lorendiac's user avatar
  • 27.4k
18 votes
1 answer
997 views

Looking for a novel of "economic science fiction" that deals with rebellion on the moon

Somewhere around the late 1980s I read a paperback novel which fell into what I would call "the unusual category of economic science fiction." I think I found the book in my grandfather's home, but he ...
Lorendiac's user avatar
  • 27.4k
21 votes
2 answers
2k views

How do the Melange Supply and Demand figures reconcile?

It has already been established that the typical dosage of “Spice” for a dependent user was approximately 2 grams per 70 kilograms of body mass per day. Of course for the drug to cause genetic changes ...
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_'s user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
506 views

How much of Earth's population is dedicated to working for, or at, Starfleet?

I'm sure Starfleet isn't Earth's only employer, but it has to be a major part of Earth's economic structure. Is there a canon estimate of just how much of Earth's population is dedicated to working ...
Major Stackings's user avatar
64 votes
15 answers
16k views

Why is the Star Wars universe not a post-scarcity economy?

In Star Wars, we have a galactic civilization with seemingly simple travel and a high level of automation available. This would seem to be sufficient for ushering in a post-scarcity economy: On a ...
Jeremy French's user avatar
40 votes
5 answers
16k views

How well are professors paid at Hogwarts?

Just kind of a curious question that came to mind while looking at this answer about who gifted Harry the Nimbus 2000 (a fairly expensive broom at the time, I would imagine) which says it was ...
Broots Waymb's user avatar
  • 2,059

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