blackn'blue wrote:With replicators and access to an infinite energy supply, nobody would ever go hungry. Since they can make any amount of food, clothing, shelter, medicine, tools, toys, or whatever else they want I guess money would be used to buy luxuries and/or privileges.
But replicators don't run on nothing. They need matter and energy and that would cost something. I suspect people would need replicator allowances or some such, i.e. a form of currency. I don't buy that energy is just "free" and won't cost anything to produce.
The way I explain away the silly "no money" concept is that A) they don't use hard cash, and B) they are normally not "greedy bastards", whose goal in life is to acquire personal wealth!