Best explanation of Star Trek economics I've ever seen

[Roger]

This guy did a pretty in-depth analysis of the economics of Star Trek:

 

https://medium.com/@RickWebb/the-economics-of-star-trek-29bab88d50

 

Seems to make sense except, of course, no mention of exactly HOW they get to that post-scarcity economy.

 

 

[zandoriastudios]

I imagine that the discovery of controlled matter/antimatter reaction, which underpins their technology (warp drive, photon torpedoes

, replicators, transporters) is what would create the astronomical surplus that the writer describes.

When you have almost unlimited energy, and can convert that energy directly into finished goods (replicator), then you have no scarcity--or manufacturing economy!

 

Interesting article. Like StarTrek it makes me think about how things are NOW rather than how they might be in the future. We are pretty stuck on having a "job" to pay for our living...or a small business... In some countries the citizens get a payment that is a division of the resources produced and exported--oil, for example. I think Alaska also pays something like that to its citizens.

[Roger]

Yes, the Alaska Permanent Fund. I believe even Arch Republican, Tricky Dick Nixon at one point floated a proposal for a basic guaranteed income.

 

I think in the next 20-30 years we may need to seriously consider that as an option. Self-driving cars and trucks will wipe out a lot of employment, and I think automation will continue to wipe out unskilled and semi-skilled jobs.

 

I think it is unlikely we will see true artificial intelligence in my lifetime (I could be wrong, though) but if you could shrink something like IBM's Watson to something that would fit in the average corporate server room, I could see that automating things like a lot of paralegal type work.

 

Continued improvements in the above areas could result in permanent 20-30% unemployment in my lifetime.