Quote:

Jim Jackson said:
Or a cure for male pattern baldness.



Picard would not approve....

On the subject of money, I remember reading an interview with Roddenberry back when TNG was just coming out. He said point-blank that there were two things he could never figure out for Trek back when he created it in the 60's:

1) How to land a ship as big as the Enterprise. (Thus why the beaming came into creation)

2) How finances work in a utopian setting.

He always admitted that, and stated it was an on-table challenge to any writer for Trek to figure it out. No one ever did. Thus, they've just kind of left it open for interpretation.

And, as Doc said, Starfleet...as a military/exploration service...do not get paid in the way we understand it. However, there have been indications of some type of credit or points system, as in the pilot episode of TNG Crusher "buys" a spool of fine silk, and says "Have it sent to the ship and charge it to Doctor Beverly Crusher...". This makes me think that every Starfleet officer is given so much credit or points for off-world bartering or purchasing...