If the Federation can replicate food, clothing, furniture, spare parts, and even medical supplies, then why doesn’t it simply use replicators to become infinitely rich?

The answer is much more interesting than simply saying “money doesn’t matter in Star Trek.”

Replicators don’t create infinite wealth — they create abundance.

Once almost anyone can produce a particular object on demand, that object stops being scarce. And when scarcity disappears, so does much of its economic value.

But replicators can’t eliminate every kind of scarcity.

You can’t replicate land. You can’t replicate a historic location. You can’t instantly replicate decades of human experience, expertise, creativity, reputation, or time.