Space Colonies and Cultural and Biological Diversity

The US dollar is not backed up by gold or any other
material. It is backed up by the willingness for
people to work to be paid in dollars. Long after the
price of commodities approaches zero (robotic
manufacturing and all of that) people will still be
looking to get credit for their work.

It was because of the inflexibility of the supply of
gold in relation to the economy that it is no longer
used as a currency anchor. Look at the crisis of 1897
for a good example of where the economy grew and the
gold supply did not causing people to be unable to
repay their debt.

- Thor

"A reason I bring this up is that currently money is
backed by some kind of resource (often times gold).
Now in space it is possible to find large amounts of
any given resource. The one I've heard most often
sited on this listserv is platinum in the asteroid
belt. Or better yet diamonds that can be mined from
Uranus."