Trekonomics

Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek is a 2016 book by French economist Manu Saadia. The book deals with the topic of the scarcity in the economy by looking at it in reverse. The author describes the 24th-century Star Trek universe in which scarcity does not exist at all. The book explores a post-scarcity age where it questions if we as humans are equipped for the events happening in that age. It looks at the expectations regarding automation and artificial intelligence and takes readers through a journey of the fictional, moneyless world of Star Trek. It also looks at the challenges to the Star Trek economy.

Trekonomics
AuthorManu Saadia
CountryUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublishedMay 31, 2016 (Pipertext)
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages280
ISBN1941758754 13: 9781941758755

In 2017 the narrated version of Trekonomics was nominated for an Audie Award and came out as a finalist.[1]

Summary

Societies are working under scarcity, so half of the people in the world are living under scarcity. Robots are coming closer. We must think about how to deal with this technological change. In the future, we will not worry about money. We may not work to earn money in the future, so we can escape from the fear of scarcity. Instead of that, we will work hard to get a good reputation from people. In this world scientists are the most important and famous persons and everyone would be working for them. Star Trek is this form of society. Saadia analysed the economics of Star Trek. He explored the underlying economic theory beyond the market supply and demand. He asks the readers "What would the world look like if everyone had everything they wanted or needed?"[2][3]

The author argues that while a warp drive may not be possible, post-scarcity economy is much more realistic.[4]

Structure

The first chapter focuses on the Star Trek's universe (primarily, the United Federation of Planets, or Federation for short) and the absence of currency in it. In a society where the economic problems have been overcome, money is meaningless. It explains how that nation functions without the pricing mechanism and the results of eliminating money as both a unit of account and as an information signal.

The status of human labor in the Star Trek universe is the topic of the second chapter. The Star Trek universe is a utopia because people do not have to work, but yet the ones we see on the show are all paradoxically very busy. The motivations of people who chose to work are analyzed.

The third chapter talks about the replicator, the machine that makes Star Trek's post-scarcity possible. Post-scarcity's meaning is the infinite social wealth. The replicator is as a metaphor for automation, and an endpoint of the industrial revolution. Crucially, in the Star Trek's society it and its produces are public good.

The fourth chapter focuses on natural limits of growth. In particular, it deals with the issue of whether resources are indeed limited, and how can different societies coexist if some view resources as limited and others, like the Federation, much less so. It also tackles examples to examine that Star Trek's universe follows the economic theory.

The fifth chapter is focused on negative externalities, such as whether different alien species (and their governments) can manage common resources. This chapter analyses the Star Trek-themed prisoner's dilemma game, and discusses whether rational and well-governed societies, like the idealistic and utopian Federation, can react appropriately when faced with an uncooperative foreign power. This chapter considers the theories of Elinor Ostrom who discusses methods of solving similar scenarios by using mutually beneficial collective action.

A simple history of Star Trek and Trekonomics is introduced in the sixth chapter.

The seventh chapter explains human behavior and nature. Some Star Trek characters such as Spock and Captain Picard are completely different from 21st century humans. They live freely from the economic necessity, so they devote their lives to science and justice. The chapter highlights how economic behaviours and psychology change under the post-scarcity.

The eighth chapter deals with the Ferengis, an economically powerful alien species in the Star Trek universe, with an economy based on trade and capitalism. They are profit seekers, and all profit seekers can change. Deep Space 9, the third show, tells about how the Ferengis abandon their old ways and evolve into Keynesian social democrats.

The final chapter reveals how the Star Trek society already exists in some local and unevenly distributed forms. The expanding world prosperity, combined with the spread of public goods on a global scale, and the rise of "free" stuff makes society approach ever closer to Trekonomics, the challenge being mainly distributional rather than technological.[5]

Characters
  • The Federation: These characters are completely different from 20th century humans when it comes to a conventional way of living. The post-scarcity age has influenced them in a way where they are nothing like us. Being untroubled by belongings makes them have no interest in conspicuous consumption. They are most likely interested in things of a much higher nature such as the cultivation of the mind, education, love, art and, of course, discovery.[6]
  • The Ferengi: These are imaginary extraterrestrial species that as only other species charge money for the use of certain products, specifically replicators. They are a parody of the 1990s or 2000s American acquisitive businessman. The Ferengi are viewed as the lowest of the society and seen as awful but funny at the same time. The Ferengi do change over time, due to contact by the federation, they start to look more like the federation and eventually become Keynesian social democrats. Saadia thinks that the Ferengi becoming more humanitarian is a metaphor for us becoming better by watching Star Trek.[6]
  • The Borg: This is one of the most powerful extraterrestrial species. The Borg are one of the most efficient species in the Star Trek series and look a lot like the Federation. They have perfect allocation of goods, a perfect assignment to supply and demand. This is one of the other societies that could be viewed as a post-scarcity economy. Every Borg drone has no needs or wants for anything; everything is provided by the collective of beings. Saaida thinks the Borg are a mirror image to what a society could look like and thinks the writers of Star Trek tried to incorporate criticism of the society they present.[6]

Critical reception

Johann K. Jaeckel writes that Trekonomics presents an unconventional contribution to the long-standing concern in economic thought regarding the impact of continuous automation on the role of human labor in social reproduction.[7] a New York Times review stated that Trekonomics can help us understand what it would take to create such a world as in Star Trek where technological advances would allow the whole society to lead more comfortable and meaningful lives, rather than the inequality that exists now which enriches only a few lucky people.[4] A Washington Post review notes that the book goes deep into the better understanding of our economy and society without scarcity. Through that we can better understand how the society works under scarcity.[8]

Due to the depiction of the Star Trek universe, Roeder asserts that the book has shortcomings such as the assignment of property rights, and a dedicated price system for energy and encouragement of services, which fosters rivalry. This makes it controversial to explore a post-scarcity world.[9] Writing for Forbes, Worstall observes that the book explores the economy of Star Trek with a strong resemblance to the economy we know today except there being no scarcity. This economy could never exist, but if it would, then it would look more like the one that Karl Marx discussed – communism. Therefore Worstall concludes that the economy of Star Trek is simply true communism.[10]

gollark: Seems like a great reason to ALLOW SAYING THAT then!
gollark: Macroscopic bee generators?
gollark: Macro lenses on cameras?
gollark: To discuss macron or Nim's excellent metaprogramming support?
gollark: Just tell them they aren't allowed to share cheaty things.

References
  1. "2017 Audie Awards® – APA". www.audiopub.org. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  2. Ouellette, Jennifer (June 2, 2016). "Economics of Star Trek". Gizmodo.
  3. Fung, Brian; Peterson, Andrea; Tsukayama, Hayley (July 7, 2015). "What the economics of Star Trek can teach us about the real world". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  4. North, Anna (July 10, 2015). "A 'Star Trek' Future Might Be Closer Than We Think". The New York Times. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  5. DeLong, Brad (June 17, 2016). "Weekend Reading: Manu Saadia: Introduction: Trekonomics". Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
  6. Galaxy, Geek's Guide to the (2016-05-28). "The Economic Lessons of Star Trek's Money-Free Society". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  7. Jaeckel, Johann K. (2018-01-02). "Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek". Review of Political Economy. 30 (1): 101–105. doi:10.1080/09538259.2018.1450187. ISSN 0953-8259.
  8. Salmon, Felix (July 7, 2015). "What the economics of Star Trek can teach us about the real world". The Washington Post.
  9. Roeder, Frederik Cyrus (September 20, 2016). "Does Star Trek Boldly Go Beyond Scarcity?". FEE.
  10. Worstall, Tim (October 5, 2015). "Star Trek Economics Is Just True Communism Arriving". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
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