# How did money work in the Star Trek universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [July 23, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164 "2021-07-23T23:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/1 "2021-07-23T23:10:00Z")
A [thread in GQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-field-commissions-a-thing/946751/56) started discussing money in Star Trek. Since that was a hijack I figured it was worth starting a thread here to explore it. In Star Trek we are led to believe it is a post-scarcity society. No one wants for anything. There are some moments in the series where they mention money is no longer a thing. Captain Picard alludes to it [here](https://youtu.be/XQQYbKT_rMg?t=78). Picard says there is [no money in the 24th century](https://youtu.be/PV4Oze9JEU0?t=162) in Star Trek VIII: First Contact. But, as noted in the thread linked above, in Star Trek: DS9 - they spend money at Quark’s Bar. Also, if there is no money on Earth, does everyone have a mansion and a super-yacht? If not, what stops them? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/2 "2021-07-23T23:23:23Z")
What were Next Generation folks betting with for poker games? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/3 "2021-07-23T23:25:30Z")
I assumed it was just for fun. Everyone was handed (say) 20 chips and went from there. No money, just the fun of winning. Occasionally, on Star Trek Voyager, they’d make the stakes worth something by betting duty time (i.e. if I win I don’t have to work tomorrow, you take my shift). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/4 "2021-07-23T23:29:25Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Also, if there is no money on Earth, does everyone have a mansion and a super-yacht? If not, what stops them? As I mentioned before, in Picard’s former lieutenant commander’s own words, “I saw you, sitting back in your very fine château. Those big oak beams, heirloom furniture… I’d show you around my estate, but it’s more of a hovel, so that would just be, you know, humiliating.” This was on Earth. Shortly afterwards, Picard is shown to have enough money to hire an off-the-books ship and pilot, pay cash bribes, etc. Also, Uhura was prepared to pay cold, hard credits for a tribble. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/5 "2021-07-23T23:31:15Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Also, Uhura was prepared to pay cold, hard credits for a tribble. I thought she was given the Tribble. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/6 "2021-07-23T23:31:18Z")
In the episode “Mudd’s Women”, why was he transporting the girls to the miner’s planet if he was not expecting compensation? Selling them was the whole plan. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/7 "2021-07-23T23:33:51Z")
Harcourt Fenton Mudd! What have you been up to? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/8 "2021-07-23T23:34:10Z")
Were those Orion women (notable for being green)? (I am a Trekkie but I am forgetting finer details) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/9 "2021-07-23T23:35:40Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I thought she was given the Tribble. She was, but not because she was short on funds: > [@](#): > > UHURA: All right, what are you selling them for? > > BARMAN: Well, let me see, little lady. Six credits. Figure a reasonable mark-up for a reasonable profit, say ten percent mark-up. Ten credits. > > JONES: Thief. > > BARMAN: In fact, I’ll sell you this one. > > (the tribble is eating grain spilt from the packet Kirk gave Chekov) > > CHEKOV: Hey! He’s eating my grain. > > BARMAN: That’ll be ten credits. > > JONES: That happens to be my sample, and I’ll do with it as I please. And I please to give it to the lovely lady. > > UHURA: Oh, I couldn’t. Could I? > > JONES: I insist. > > BARMAN: What are you trying to do, ruin the market? > > JONES: Once this lovely little lady starts to show this precious little darling around, you won’t be able to keep up with them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/10 "2021-07-23T23:39:29Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Occasionally, on Star Trek Voyager, they’d make the stakes worth something by betting duty time (i.e. if I win I don’t have to work tomorrow, you take my shift). I was just binge-watching Voyager, and the crew had use of the replicators rationed, so they also bet the credits. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/11 "2021-07-23T23:40:40Z")
Nope, mail-order (human) brides: > [@](#): > > MUDD: Oh, you beautiful galaxy! Oh, that heavenly universe! Well, girls, lithium miners. Don’t you understand? Lonely, isolated, overworked, rich lithium miners! Girls, do you still want husbands, hmm? Evie, you won’t be satisfied with a mere ship’s captain. I’ll get you a man who can buy you a whole planet. Maggie, you’re going to be a countess. Ruth, I’ll make you a duchess. And I, I’ll be running this starship. Captain James Kirk, the next orders you’re taking will be given by Harcourt Fenton Mudd! Anyway, the Federation may advertise that nobody uses money, but somehow everyone has some, except for poor souls who don’t. (You can imagine a “post-scarcity” civilization where nobody starves to death, but that does not make everybody a billionaire nor imply orthodox communism is in effect.) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/12 "2021-07-23T23:44:27Z")
My take on it is that, in the Federation, there isn’t any need for money, until the existence (or lack) of money furthers the plot of the episode in question. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/13 "2021-07-24T00:24:17Z")
Wasn’t Trek the origin of Quatloos? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/14 "2021-07-24T00:35:52Z")
Don’t forget gold-pressed latinum. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/15 "2021-07-24T00:45:10Z")
Used on the planet Triskelion. There may be no need for “money” back on Earth, but every place else seems to need it. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/16 "2021-07-24T01:14:46Z")
Pretty great name. The son I never had is lucky. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/17 "2021-07-24T01:19:29Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Anyway, the Federation may advertise that nobody uses money, but somehow everyone has some, except for poor souls who don’t. (You can imagine a “post-scarcity” civilization where nobody starves to death, but that does not make everybody a billionaire nor imply orthodox communism is in effect.) Yeah. Star Trek presents this idyllic future where no one needs money but is thin on details. Picard has a vineyard. Can anyone have a vineyard? I am guessing not. Post-scarcity only goes so far. Everyone can have a replicator that feeds them and provides clothes but some things are still finite (like land) and thus have a value and that can be traded. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/18 "2021-07-24T01:21:41Z")
Actually, I doubt that replicators are widely available to people on Earth and other planets, especially not for food. We see wide use of replicators on board the ships because otherwise it would be impossible to stock everything needed. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/19 "2021-07-24T01:44:54Z")
I believe in a post-scarcity society about as much as I believe in a perpetual-motion machine. Roddenberry and Banks were writing fantasy, not science fiction. My fanwank is that a key component of the replicators is found only in a few places. Earth and Vulcan have it, and their governments are the oil sheiks of the Alpha Quadrant. Elsewhere, normal economics apply. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164/20 "2021-07-24T01:58:04Z")
Post-scarcity, to me, really means a society with unlimited free energy. Most sci-fi societies rest on this conceit. That’s the magic box that makes everything else work. I think in the Star Trek universe replicators are like microwave ovens. Cheap and everyone has one. But they never get in to the wanker who just replicates shit non-stop because he can. Or the limits of what can be replicated. If unlimited we can start to see problems. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-money-work-in-the-star-trek-universe/947164.md?page=2)