In consideration of a future where nanotechnology allows virtually any conceived of substance to be manufactured with a minimum waste of energy and resources, I can't see the cost of items dropping enormously in an everyday sense. Things like a loaf of bread will probably cost the same as a loaf today; marketed items and vanity items will still be priced according to what somebody perceives the value to be; patent rights will still be around to prevent somebody's original use of a nanoassebler from being ripped off by others, ...
Instead, wouldn't it be nice so envison a better world where populations that starve today would benefit from the efficient reoganization of matter that nanotech affords. Imagine a world where manufacturing isn't limited to the home shores of very industrialized nations; a world whose only concern is the transportation of raw materials to local sites that have their own nanoassemblers to do the work for them...
Real estate becoming very much more premium than it is now? With the advent of true nanotechnology, it will become possible to sustain large ecosystems in space for very long amounts of time due to the nearly 100% recycling capacity that nanotech would afford. Some plots of land would have greater value than others, but with the opportunities of an entire galaxy at our disposal, what need is there for us to bicker over a few million square miles in our own backyard?
Call me a bit optimistic, but nanotechnology is our future. It seems to me that without a vision of a better future, there is no need to try and make it through the present.
Peace.
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Chris W Thomas | "Were we directed from Washington when to sow and Urey Fellow | | | when to reap, we should soon want for bread" Dept.of Chemistry |+|-| -Thomas Jefferson, 1826 tungsten@ucsd.edu | | |