Such basic components as molecular rods, gears, bearings, and joints might first be made through chemistry and protein engineering, then precisely combined through proximal probe technology. It may seem odd that a goal, an assembler, can be so well specified while the path remains vague, but nanotechnology is in a position where no new fundamental principles need be found, only new techniques and refinements of existing ones. Unless you happen to be an astronaut, everywhere there is matter, visible or invisible, heavy or light, the product of nature or of tools, from chaotic jumbles to the most highly refined products. We can only guess at the ultimate possibilities. Our economic systems will be revolutionized as well.
Nanotechnology can break the chains of waste and exploitation.
There will be no need for raw materials or cheap labor from other nations. Almost anything that one wants built can be built of abundantly available carbon. Most forms of scarcity will have little meaning in a nanotechnology society, particularly if colonies in space relieve population pressures. Software and design work will likely constitute the majority of costs in a nanotech world. Economic decentralization will be another major consequence, as assemblers can easily make manufacturing a portable affair.