Will you be the only driving force behind skyrim's economy or will other people decide to buy food, or a book, or a necklace for their beloved, or even a sword to take out their spouses lover.

Good question. I doubt it though ; Adding reality only goes so far.

I think that since there is an economy there to begin with they must have set a standard as to why it is there. Im not sure well get to see them talk to the merchants tough. They did in Oblivion if i remember correctly but i could be wrong

they could buy stuff in Oblivion, they rarely did however and it was mostly food

Having npcs purchase items is easily possible but then their inventories have to be managed in a more hands on approach.
Right now they have scripted items in possession and randomly generated items upon creation. This allows Thieves in the woods to carry different items between them and such.
If you allow purchasing of goods, then individuals now have inventories that contain said purchased items. Each day that passes those items will need to be handled (ie, axes, apples, assorted sundries, acupuncture equipment, etc. all needs to either vanish or stay in the inventory). If they stay, then the possibility of clutter becomes a very large issue. If they vanish, then there must be a set time that the stuff disappears which isn't very realistic.

I do remeber some talk about if blacksmiths finish items they then add it to there list and that certain "amazing" items not be there the next time you check the shop. That might suggest that you do buy stuff.

I read that some shops are now outside like open markets or something. And he called some people shoppers.

If NPCs patronize shops and stalls, etc. And actually buy stuff, it stands to reason there would be shoplifters absconding with some of the goods occasionally. This would then create a need for loss mitigation personnel... Perhaps a new job opening for the PC...

That would be pretty awesome, but I don't think so :/

Wouldn't put it past them. It's not hard to do, especially considering Assassin's Creed was 1 step away from that interaction with it's crowds constantly at market stalls. I think the Creation Engine is perfectly capable of it, especially considering big cities are their own cells and have their own load, and smaller settlements don't have enough people to bog the system down if it simulates as much as it's credited to.

Ooo that would make me mad if they went and bought something I was saving up for :flame: I think I would have to kill them for it

Yes, according to the radiant AI they will do everyday things, buy things, do tasks, do jobs and so on.

-Mr. Maric

Awesome!
It felt a bit weird in Oblivion, where it felt that I was the only economic driving force xD

Apparently there's a living economy now, but according to Pete (I think), it's not very deep.
My guess is that people will hang around in shops, but not actually 'buy' anything.

That's because you were!

Don't tell me they'll have to start playing classical music all day long to discourage loitering.