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.
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How does the Ferengi economy work? [duplicate]
In Star Trek - the Federation is a post-scarcity socialist (for want of a better world) utopia, that has abandonded the concept of money.
This makes sense in light of the existence of replicators and ...
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Was the Old Empire post scarcity?
In both Children of Time, and Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the main conflict seems to be science Vs anti-science and there exists highly advanced technology including AI, gene editing and ...
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Where did Wizards store their money before Gringotts?
Gringotts was founded in 1474, which raises the question of where wizards and witches stored their wealth before the bank was founded.
Is there a mention of this somewhere within the lore?
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How can Mars compete with Earth economically or militarily?
I'm into third season now and apart from whole bunch of really, really stupid meme stuff (would use a different word, but...), which I can't peg as inattention to detail or sloppy writing, there is ...
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Is Galactic Credit "paper currency" or "metallic currency"?
I mean, is the galactic credit more like paper money, such as dollars and euros, supported by national credibility? Or is it more like "metallic currency" such as gold and silver, which have ...
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Does everyone always eat, drink and sleep for free everywhere in Middle-earth?
Maybe it has to do with the specific and unique circumstances in which the characters we follow in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings find themselves, but it seems to me that everyone always assumes ...
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How do ordinary citizens get around the Federation?
It's a common plot in Star Trek series for the Enterprise to be tasked with transporting various VIP's to destinations where they are needed urgently - an ambassador to a treaty ceremony, a doctor to ...
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Was the economy of Dinohattan ever explored?
The 1993 Super Mario Bros. film explores a parallel Earth in which dinosaurs survived and evolved intelligence. In the present day of the film, the dinosaurs' planet's lack of resources is mentioned ...
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How did the Rangers of the North make a living in the Lord of the Rings?
How did Aragorn and other Rangers make a living? Were they employed by some kingdom? If so, which one?
Or if not, did they just eat what they found/hunted in nature? In that case, was the motivation ...
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How is PAW Patrol funded?
I was watching PAW Patrol with my niece when I got to thinking that all of that advanced rescue equipment, all of those trucks, ATV's, helicopters, submarines, patrol boats, and other fancy vehicles, ...
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What is the use of a trade embargo in a society with replicators?
For new years eve, a few friends and I had some Romulan Ale and the scene with Worf mentioning that it should be illegal and Geordi replying that it is was quoted the whole evening. We started to ...
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Is Bajor's post-occupation economy money-based?
Other than a single reference to money in DS9: "Necessary Evil" (which could well be edited away without hurting any story arc), I don't remember the Bajoran economy being portrayed as being based on ...
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How do Starfleet personnel get credits or Latinum? [duplicate]
Quark's bar takes payment in Latinum; and perhaps, as discussed in this question - in Federation "credits" (backed by something - not clear what). Now, in another discussion e.g. in this answer, the ...
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What's the point of Super Star Destroyers?
To my knowledge, a regular Imperial Star Destroyer is a massive source of firepower and will intimidate most opposition in to not even trying to fight back. As for the few that would try and fight ...
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How could the baddies build such a large fleet in isolation to the galactic economy?
I watched the film 'The Rise of Skywalker' in cinema. Our heroes spent most the film searching for a super secret planet. It turns out the only way to reach the planet is with the help of a extremely ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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) ...
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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....
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How easy is it to build superweapons?
In the span of 5+ decades, the galaxy witnessed the completion of construction for at least 3 planet-destroying superweapons: Two Death Stars and Starkiller Base, each one several orders larger and ...
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How costly was space travel in the world of Dune?
It is clear that spice was costly and that the Guild Navigators used large quantities of it:
Herbert notes in Children of Dune that the geriatric properties of melange had been "first noted by ...
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Do mathematicians have jobs in Star Wars?
I'm an aspiring Mathematician i.e. a pure/applied math major with a minor in comp sci and econ. I'm sure you star-wars fans (at least I do) fantasize what it would be like if I existed in the Star-...
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How big was the Star Wars empire? [duplicate]
In the original Star Wars movie, Grand Moff Tarkin destroys a perfectly viable Alderaan seemingly simply to demonstrate imperial ruthlessness. It then stands to reason that the economic loss was ...
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Why do the Ferengi still use latinum as currency?
In DS9 (and to a much lesser extent, TNG), the financial acumen of the Ferengi is repeatedly emphasized. Yet they always seem to cart around physical latinum (usually in gold-pressed form in-universe ...
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Was Princess Leia Organa wealthy?
Or, more specifically, to amend a catchy title, how rich was Princess Leia Organa?
We know that she was Alderaanian royalty before the planet was Death-Starred out.
We know from EU that tons of ...
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Would Gringotts convert Wizard money to Muggle money?
The books make it clear that they offer the reverse service (see the following question: What Do the Gringotts Goblins Do With Muggle Money?).
According to the canonical answer to that question,
Q: ...
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Why can't wizards create precious metals?
I've been curious what stops wizards from creating and endless supply of wizard currency. After looking at a few other questions (like this, and this) it keeps getting stated that wizards can't create ...
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Is there currency in the Grid?
Is there currency in the Tron Universe?
I have seen both Tron movies and the animated TV show but I still have a few questions about the universe.
I see programs treat their functions like jobs. Do ...
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Are there businesses in Mordor?
This is a fairly straightforward question. In The Two Towers, it is revealed that Sauron pays his armies. When Merry and Pippin are abducted by Orcs, the Orcs argue about what to do with them. An ...
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How does one get a plot of land on Earth?
If you want something rare or precious (such as land for a farm) presumably you can apply for it in a lottery or to a commission intended to apportion such things equitably. (Source: an assertion in ...
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Is it possible to get any random big item replicated by request in UFP's Earth?
If you want something big, you queue up at an industrial replicator. (Source: an assertion in another SFF answer.)
The implication is that if you want a large material good — yacht? starship? ...
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Is Gringotts really the only worldwide wizarding bank?
In the first Harry Potter book, Hagrid tells Harry that Gringotts is the only bank:
‘They didn’ keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us
is Gringotts. Wizards’ bank. Have a ...
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Identify a short story where economics is about the creation of scarce (and horrible) goods
I am having trouble identifying a short story that I have read a while ago. It is about the definition of economics in a future where all necessary goods are abundant/readily available. The story is ...
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What is economics like for ordinary people in the Star Trek universe?
I realize that this is a very broad question, with the stories told in the Star Trek universe spanning hundreds of years.
I sometimes hear of economists talking about a theoretical "Star Trek economy"...
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Is there any canon indication that Galleons and Sickles are actually made of pure Gold and Silver?
A large number of questions and discussions on Wizarding economy seem to take it for granted that Galleons and Sickles are made of pure Gold and Silver respectively, but is there actually any ...
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What is the Economic system of the Potterverse?
The annual student intake of Hogwarts seems about 100. Since in book 7 Hogwarts is declared mandatory for all children, this means that the total magical population of Britain cannot be much more than ...
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One person constructs a building, another tears it down, unaware of each other
I heard a synopsis of this story in the early 2000s.
The story is set on a different world, one that has two suns. The suns may have been of different colour. While the first sun is up, the people ...
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Is Eureka a commune?
The town seems to be as economically isolated as it is in all other ways. The DOD funds Global Dynamics, but otherwise it would appear to be a money-less society: houses and businesses are built and ...
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In WALL•E, what kind of economy was used on the Axiom?
We never see any human do any kind of job on the Axiom, except for the Captain. However, on the 700th anniversary, the passengers all receive a free drink. Does that imply that they have to pay for ...
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