# Did any Star Trek books address how the cashless Earth economy worked?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-star-trek-books-address-how-the-cashless-earth-economy-worked/558162>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 24, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-star-trek-books-address-how-the-cashless-earth-economy-worked/558162 "2010-10-24T03:15:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-star-trek-books-address-how-the-cashless-earth-economy-worked/558162/81 "2010-10-30T16:07:27Z")

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I thought it funny that Gold pressed Latinum was effectively worthless if the Latinum was removed, gold being a relatively inexpensive commodity.

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**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-star-trek-books-address-how-the-cashless-earth-economy-worked/558162/82 "2010-10-30T16:14:13Z")

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> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> I think I remember one episode where he won a lot of money gambling in Quarks. But the war was going badly. He started yelling about how they’re all going to lose soon, then stormed off leaving the money behind.
> 
> Dunno if that’s what \*\*FordTaurus \*\*was thinking of.

No, I think the one I was thinking of had someone trying to pay him for giving them medical attention. He said, as a Starfleet office (or something), he couldn’t accept. He did tell them where they could use their currency though.

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**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-star-trek-books-address-how-the-cashless-earth-economy-worked/558162/83 "2010-10-31T18:55:24Z")

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> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#):
>
> I thought it funny that Gold pressed Latinum was effectively worthless if the Latinum was removed, gold being a relatively inexpensive commodity.

As I recall, latinum was pure fiat money anyway. Its virtue was that it could not be replicated; and it was always used in liquid form, the gold being used as a container (and perhaps to provide heft and beauty).

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