The whole ST concept of economics is a load of crap. Like earlier posts stated, there will always be limited resources and disparities in talent and ability. Land cannot be replicated. Even if you can leave the planet, so what? Land on other planets can't be replicated either. And the cheapest land would be on far away planets with few people and little to no resources available, much like the western US in the 19th century, when the gub'ment gave away land if you promised to maintain it. Then there’s energy. It may be cheap and abundant, but it will not be FREE. Energy must be produced; it will require machines, labor, time, and transport. These factors mean that energy will have a value. If you want an example of a modern-day form of energy that’s relatively cheap and abundant, yet we still complain about its cost, look at oil. Milk is more expensive than oil. Hand lotion is far more expensive than oil. Peanut butter might be 5-10 times its cost. Yet we still go nuts at the price of oil. You don’t think people would act the same way regarding antimatter in the 24th century? I gurantee you there would be a zillion PADD articles on the predatory nature and inherent danger of the “Big Antimatter” companies.
Then there will always be disparities in talent. You can see this in every episode by the mere fact of the ships hierarchy. Why is Jean-Luc a Captain and some random dude just a lieutenant? Because Picard is better than that other dude. He's smarter, more ambitious, a better ass-kisser, maybe simply more lucky. Whatever, the point is there will always be people who have less talent and luck than others. Hence you will have poverty. Maybe it won't be the abject poverty we see in some places of our time, but there will always be people who have less. For example: look at a poor person in America, compared to sub-Saharan Africa. A poor American likely lives in a small apartment, with few frills, bad heat and no AC, but there is little chance of dying from exposure. They can always go to an emergency room if they are ill, although quality of care is suspect. They will also have access to abundant amounts of cheap food, albeit very bad for you. An impoverished sub-Saharan African, meanwhile, likely has no shelter, little to no access to ANY kind of medical care, and is in a constant state of malnutrition. Being poor in America is a helluva lot better than being poor in sub-Saharan Africa, but poverty still exists in America. 24th century poverty might seem pretty sweet to us, but poverty will still exist.
Then there will always be disparities in talent. You can see this in every episode by the mere fact of the ships hierarchy. Why is Jean-Luc a Captain and some random dude just a lieutenant? Because Picard is better than that other dude. He's smarter, more ambitious, a better ass-kisser, maybe simply more lucky. Whatever, the point is there will always be people who have less talent and luck than others. Hence you will have poverty. Maybe it won't be the abject poverty we see in some places of our time, but there will always be people who have less. For example: look at a poor person in America, compared to sub-Saharan Africa. A poor American likely lives in a small apartment, with few frills, bad heat and no AC, but there is little chance of dying from exposure. They can always go to an emergency room if they are ill, although quality of care is suspect. They will also have access to abundant amounts of cheap food, albeit very bad for you. An impoverished sub-Saharan African, meanwhile, likely has no shelter, little to no access to ANY kind of medical care, and is in a constant state of malnutrition. Being poor in America is a helluva lot better than being poor in sub-Saharan Africa, but poverty still exists in America. 24th century poverty might seem pretty sweet to us, but poverty will still exist.