Spring Break
Different resources will create new forms of currency
Scott Conover
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: Forum
Although at this point of time the primary of focus of space exploration is research, people will take advantage of the economic benefits of space someday. This is because the first major power or set of people to explore space may set many cultural norms for a majority of the major settlements, including how money is used.
Will people even use symbolic monetary units such as paper money in space? It is very likely the first successful space settlements will not only use money, but also they will operate within the boundaries of a modern, civilized economy.
Money, as per an abstract currency such as a dollar, is worth only what people are willing to trade for it. Abstract currency has no internal value, but it is useful if people are willing to honor debts, pay employees and exchange value with one another. So long as people are willing to work for money, then economic functions based on it will continue.
Alternatives certainly exist for abstract currencies. Bartering, for example, has always been one part of human economic transactions. Trading a good or service directly for another good or service is relatively common in everyday life.
However, not only is that trading practice dependent almost entirely on trust, it is also inefficient; minor deficiencies on one side of the deal or the other simply result in lost value.
In early space exploration, barter is very likely to be used for survival needs. Oxygen, hydrogen, food, water, soil and scarce metals that are difficult to refine in space could all be traded in a barter system, along with any other good that was in demand. Luxury goods certainly would attain an early high value; highly advanced technologies such as mp3 players may develop a very high demand very early on in exploration.
As these settlements grow, however, they would adjust to a different economic system in order to thrive and in order to trade value. For purposes of scarcity, rare metals have been used as a form of currency. In space, these metals may be relatively common and therefore useless as a scarce resource; gold, silver, copper, and all of the more abundant metals such as nickel and iron would be low-value commodities in space, especially after successful mining operations took off.
Will people even use symbolic monetary units such as paper money in space? It is very likely the first successful space settlements will not only use money, but also they will operate within the boundaries of a modern, civilized economy.
Money, as per an abstract currency such as a dollar, is worth only what people are willing to trade for it. Abstract currency has no internal value, but it is useful if people are willing to honor debts, pay employees and exchange value with one another. So long as people are willing to work for money, then economic functions based on it will continue.
Alternatives certainly exist for abstract currencies. Bartering, for example, has always been one part of human economic transactions. Trading a good or service directly for another good or service is relatively common in everyday life.
However, not only is that trading practice dependent almost entirely on trust, it is also inefficient; minor deficiencies on one side of the deal or the other simply result in lost value.
In early space exploration, barter is very likely to be used for survival needs. Oxygen, hydrogen, food, water, soil and scarce metals that are difficult to refine in space could all be traded in a barter system, along with any other good that was in demand. Luxury goods certainly would attain an early high value; highly advanced technologies such as mp3 players may develop a very high demand very early on in exploration.
As these settlements grow, however, they would adjust to a different economic system in order to thrive and in order to trade value. For purposes of scarcity, rare metals have been used as a form of currency. In space, these metals may be relatively common and therefore useless as a scarce resource; gold, silver, copper, and all of the more abundant metals such as nickel and iron would be low-value commodities in space, especially after successful mining operations took off.
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