On Sun, Apr 27, 2014 at 01:41:22AM -0700, Ian Wood wrote:
> - hybrid seeds (naturally or GM) cannot be replaced just by planting them.
> - inks or dies for 3D printing
> - catalytes, or reaction helpers that are used up in the reaction,
>   and cannot be reclaimed form the end result.

One of the first things I thought of when starting with Traveller was
the likelihood of anagathic drugs and their precursors being a truly
enormous trade industry.  It was only later that I read about them
being extremely rare and essentially taboo in addition to being
prohibitively expensive.

In an alt-history version of Traveller -- or even its near future --
such goods may indeed constitute a major fraction of the economy.

- Tim