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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.

130 votes
14 answers
18k views

Why and how did the Star Trek Universe evolve to a cashless/commerce-less society?

I've always wondered this ... I recall fleeting references to the lack of a money system in TNG (something about abandoning the quest for material wealth), but was it ever explained why and how and ...
Slick23's user avatar
  • 5,953
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
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
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
53 votes
8 answers
15k views

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 ...
sds's user avatar
  • 1,425
52 votes
12 answers
14k views

How to reconcile the cashless human/Federation society with human traders and merchants

From a variety of sources, including this great question, we know that the Federation (or at least the humans) don't use money. This raises the problem that humans frequently visit worlds where there ...
erdiede's user avatar
  • 9,230
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
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
34 votes
6 answers
10k views

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 ...
J. Mini's user avatar
  • 4,865
33 votes
1 answer
11k views

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 ...
Boromir's user avatar
  • 413
33 votes
4 answers
8k views

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 ...
TGar's user avatar
  • 4,836
33 votes
11 answers
26k views

Where does time come from in the movie "In Time"?

In Time shows a world where time is currency. The film explains that on a person's 25th birthday, their clock "starts ticking", with one year on it. From that point forward, they can buy and sell ...
Flimzy's user avatar
  • 5,772
32 votes
3 answers
4k views

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 ...
Wad Cheber's user avatar
  • 70.1k
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
30 votes
4 answers
6k views

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 ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar

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