William J. Polley

But everything will never be free. It is not possible. Even if all food, energy, and goods were free, or next to free, there would always be those that would not because they cannot be produced. That unique ocean front lot in Hawaii. That historic chateaux in France. Da Vinci's codex. The Mona Lisa. The CEO job at GE. The mate of our choice. It could actually be a much more interesting world because money alone would be insufficient and all our interests and talents would be exercised in obtaining what we want.

His point was about on-line gaming, not so much about the real world where the laws of space and time force a level of scarcity that cannot be overcome.

Science fiction is another way to see it. If you're familiar with "Star Trek: The Next Generation" there was a character, "Q", for whom even the laws of space and time did not apply. He was portrayed as a bored and pathetic character who used others for his own amusement. I think there's a lesson there about scarcity.

That is because he was banished from the continuum and had no one to stimulate him. Star Trek itself is probably a closer analog since replicator technology eliminated all basic needs. Of course it is the ones left behind that may have difficulty, and they were not above resorting to gene therapy to advance their children.

Oh we could go so many places with this... (I do enjoy Star Trek)

About Q: Right. But the series only gives a little bit of detail about the continuum. We see Q interact with the physical world (Enterprise and crew) and realize that he has a boring existence because humans with their linear notion of time and their inability to overcome physical constraints are simply no match for him. It comes down to this. If the laws of time and space don't apply to you, then you lose any concept of relative value. (Isn't that Q's real problem in dealing with the Enterprise?) Now, if everyone had that kind of power, you'll need everyone to have some kind of inner discipline or self-control because there is no notion of scarcity to impose discipline on you. I'm not sure this is the right word for it, but you need balance. Q is what happens when someone in that environment loses control. If you don't have some way of reigning in that power, you become drunk on power, alternating between boredom and recklessness.

On the replicator, I used to make that point in class, but no longer do since Star Trek is not well known among today's students. I refer you to a discussion over on Phil Miller's blog...

http://marketpower.typepad.com/market_power/2006/01/the_trouble_wit.html#comments

Star Trek is interesting (and a little frustrating) to me because it offers up these little tidbits but sometimes there are inconsistencies. You could keep busy for hours explaining how some element of the saga illustrates this point, but then somewhere there is something that contradicts it or requires more explanation.

But it's still fun (as is science fiction in general).

I've been fascinated with the comment, from one of the Star Trek movies (original cast), where Kirk (I think) remarks that they don't use money in his time. I guess the folks in the Federation either solved the scarcity problem or found a more efficient means of exchange, although I can't imagine a more effective means than cold, hard cash-ola.

If it's the former, then I bet there are no economists in the future.

Now you know how to get out of your econ classes: solve the scarcity problem for everything!