Re: Money (was Re: Enlightenment

Jonathan L Cunningham wrote:

Followups were set to r.a.sf.written, but I believe (the part of) this
that I am responding to is on-topic for r.a.sf.composition, and I have
changed it. Graham's post appeared in r.a.sf.c so I'm snipping freely.

Graham Woodland <gray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

David Friedman wrote:

In article <460dad0d$0$14091$742ec2ed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"James Gassaway" <dtravel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I admit I don't know what form an economy would take in a real world
society with replicators but I can't believe that any current economic
models would apply.


You live in a real world society with replicators--software.
Substantial fixed cost of producing the original, negligible marginal
cost of producing copies, substantial variable cost of various sorts of
associated services.

That should give you at least some idea of how the expanded version
would work.


And *original* works of art and craft. You can replicate a copy of
anything someone else already commissioned or produced on spec; you
can't, without hiring someone for the purpose, commission something to
your own wishes.

All that replicated stuff has to go somewhere, and planetary surfaces
seem to remain the habitat of choice for most people in ST at least; so
living
and storage space remain a problem. If artificial habitat takes off in a

(snip)
Whether some items can be actually or legally replication-proofed, with
the specific intention of preserving their scarcity, is another software
parallel that might be interesting to explore. At least if the
differences with DRM as we know it were well worked out.

[assumed no-money economy -- necessity for police/defence etc. tasks to
be carried out by people]
end up requiring some degree of conscript 'social-service' State labour
in the absence of money, since many of the tasks involved would be boring
and
repellent to most. Also, getting them done by anyone willing to do them
for free might not be a wise idea at all. I think retaining money, and
using it voluntarily to hire people of suitable talents, would likely be
a lot more popular than either of these alternatives...

What would they spend money on? Not everyone willing to be hired as a
policeman would want to spend his/her earnings on original artworks.

Maybe you have to buy a license to have children?

You can do pretty much what you like with privilege licensing as an
'incentive' -- if people will stand for it.

But also: haircuts; massage; travel (limited capacity = not free);
replicator specs for a doodad which would *just exactly* solve some problem
around the house or in your hobby; buying designs for the clothes you want
to replicate yourself; going to a good restaurant which *does not release*
its recipes; entrance fees to professional sporting events; pets;
gardening; buying artworks or adornments which you don't care about for
themselves, but which are high-status precisely because it is difficult to
afford them; living in a big detached house in the countryside instead of
an arcology cubicle; living in a cubicle in the most prestigious or
otherwise desirable beehive available; donating to voluntary groups that
work for your favourite aims; donating it to popular causes to show what a
great guy you are; bribing politicians and others; obtaining things you
aren't authorised to replicate, or even to possess; lending it out for a
fee to others who do need people's services; hiring an agent to use it to
accumulate more money, or something else you want, in the most efficient
manner; and hiring lawyers to defend yourself against spurious IP lawsuits.

Amongst others. And those are just moderately direct uses.

A gold-backed currency in our world isn't worthless to someone with no
personal use for gold, either. Replicators kill the scarcity of gold, but
not of services. Nor are they likely to decrease the demand for services.
Therefore...

--
Cheers,

Gray
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Money (was Re: Enlightenment
    ... in the absence of money, since many of the tasks involved would be boring ... to replicate yourself; going to a good restaurant which *does not release* ... living in a big detached house in the countryside instead of ... fee to others who do need people's services; hiring an agent to use it to ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: OT: Gravity explained
    ... What is the minimum strand of DNA/RNA/XNA that can replicate itself? ... I've made actual money by having better ideas than the other guy - I ... just haven't reached the million-dollar mark yet. ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: PLEASE, UNITED, DONT DO IT!!!
    ...  It's a waste of money! ...  Jesus Petry ... I guess their idea is to replicate what they've done with Anderson and ...
    (rec.sport.soccer)
  • Re: SETI
    ... Geologists spend a lot of time with rocks. ... necessary characteristic of a living being is the ability to replicate. ... Let your imaginations ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: SETI
    ... Geologists spend a lot of time with rocks. ... necessary characteristic of a living being is the ability to replicate. ... So what if we'd discover intelligence that doesn't replicate? ...
    (talk.origins)