Trekonomics: The Economics of Post-Scarcity
I recently finished listening to the audiobook of Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek, by Manu Saadia. It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had thinking about economics, due to the outstanding premise:
What if we treated the Star Trek universe as if it was real, and used it to draw economic lessons about post-scarcity?
The model rests upon one glaring, unavoidable fact of the Star Trek economy: there is no money. There are a few mentions of “exchanging credits” in the TV series, but they all prove to be metaphors, throwback rituals, or jokes. No money means no salaries, no revenue, and no profit. The great majority of the machinery by which capitalism runs is simply gone.
This article has moved to the new Praxis blog. Sign up here for a free 30-day trial, or subscribe to the newsletter to receive notifications of free articles. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube.
