[lproven]

> I'm interested in all the wealth that will be generated.

Changing the name does not change the point.

I suggest you go read Iain M Banks's Culture novels.

You will have fun, because they are wonderful, but you will also learn what a civilisation that has moved beyond the concept of "money", "wealth", or "payment" would be like.

In brief: better in every imaginable way.

It is not about money.

[michaelmrose]

Money is a representation of actual resources. There aren't enough public resources in excess to fund a meaningful mars colony and do the things that the government is required to do to avoid dissolution or getting dragged out of the people's house.

It will be a stretch to justify a scientific expedition without trying to build a city on mars.