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I agree with Cargile in that "We don't use money" does not necessarily mean "We don't have money". grb had a good argument about water that is for free. So for every day life in the UFP money might not be needed. Everything you really need can be replicated.
Plenty of energy might be produced by solar power plants. I would suggest shells in the Mercury orbit *trying to avoid the term "Dyson sphere"* collecting solar radiation rather than using matter/antimatter reaction (BTW: where does the antimatter come from?).
Still, some things and materials will be scarce. Collecting or striving for scarce goods seems to be buried in human nature and has to be distinguished from mere greed, and that's in essence what money would be used for. The question is if there will ever be a replication technique that is able to exactly reproduce any matter down to the quantum level, so it can't be distiguished from the original. In this case nobody and nothing would be unique anymore, and any kind money or latinum or currency equivalent would be really futile, provided there is energy and replicators everywhere.
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Where is the automation? Trek seems to abhor robotics. We don't see it. It could be there. But why bus tables? Community service?
Sisco owns and operates a resturant because there is a demand for it. People still like to eat real food. Plus real food is more economic energy wise. The energy used to cook a full spread dinner is way way less than that same meal replicated from stock bulk materials on board a starship. We humans endeavor to make our lives easier, safer, and more economic. From the limited amount of earth homelife exposure on Trek, everyone is cooking and preparing their own meals. Sisco's resturant (Sisco's! Not The Peoples' Resturant No. 42, but Sisco's, implying ownership) Picard's family in France (though there was mention of replicators), and Picard's virtual Nexus wife. So if this is a microcosm of the whole world, then people still cook. And if they do, where are they getting the food? If they are not slaughtering their own cattle and growing their own vegetables, then how are they earning them? Gee, I suppose they are providing services and producing goods to meet the demands of society. No, I don't think people are pulling out their wallets and paying with cash. But everyone is identified at birth and a profile is kept, so somehow, each person's net worth is calculated and recorded. (I'm not exactly fond of this idea as it violates the US Constitution reguarding privacy.) Maybe it works on credit and rations, or a chit system. Value has to be defined. I think in the Trek world, value is defined by information. The need to learn is far greater than the need to own, but people still own. Just like today, people still learn. People still study the sciences. So in the 24th century, if information is the Fort Knox, how is an economy built on it? What information is more important, and thus more valuable, than other information? We can only guess at what 24th century humans will deem more valuable.
------------------ What do you mean I'm not kind. Just not you're kind. --Dave Mustaine "Peace Sells" MEGADETH
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Paul, that is exactly what I've been thinking. It's not so much that the Federation doesn't value anything, but that they value different things. Information, as you said. "Self improvement," as Picard is always going on about. These are the basis for UFP economics. And from this standpoint, the statement that they don't use money is indeed correct. There is "credit" given and recieved, yes. Its basis, however, is completely different from anything that exists today.
------------------ "And though I once prefered a human being's company, they pale before the monolith that towers over me." -- They Might Be Giants
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