--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And spend they did. Money circulated…" description: "\"“And spend they did. Money circulated faster and spread wider through its communities of use than at any other time in economic history.8 Workers labor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/douglas-rushkoff-2188_first-place_and-spend-they-did-money-circulated-fast_54531.jpg" --- # And spend they did. Money circulated faster and spread… ![“And spend they did. Money circulated faster and spread wider through its communities of use than at any other time in economic history.8 Workers labored fewer days and at higher wages than before or since; people ate four meals a day; women were taller in Europe than at any time until the 1970s…” quote by Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/douglas-rushkoff-2188_first-place_and-spend-they-did-money-circulated-fast_54531.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/douglas-rushkoff-2188_first-place_and-spend-they-did-money-circulated-fast_54531.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/douglas-rushkoff-2188_first-place_and-spend-they-did-money-circulated-fast_54531.jpg) > ““And spend they did. Money circulated faster and spread wider through its communities of use than at any other time in economic history.8 Workers labored fewer days and at higher wages than before or since; people ate four meals a day; women were taller in Europe than at any time until the 1970s; and the highest percentage on record of business profits went to preventative maintenance on equipment. It was a period of tremendous growth and wealth. Meanwhile, with no way of storing or growing value with this form of money over the long term, people made massive investments in architecture, particularly cathedrals, which they knew would attract pilgrims and tourists for years to come. This was their way of investing in the future, and the pre-Renaissance era of affluence became known as the Age of Cathedrals. The beauty of a flow-based economy is that it favors those who actively create value. The problem is that it disfavors those who are used to reaping passive rewards. Aristocratic landowning families had stayed rich for centuries simply by being rich in the first place. Peasants all worked the land in return for enough of their own harvest on which to subsist. Feudal lords did not participate in the peer-to-peer economy facilitated by local currencies, and by 1100 or so, most or the aristocracy’s wealth and power was receding. They were threatened by the rise of the merchant middle class and the growing bourgeois population, and had little way of participating in all the sideways trade. The wealthy needed a way to make money simply by having money. So, one by one, each of the early monarchies of Europe outlawed the kingdom’s local currencies and replaced them with a single central currency. Instead of growing their money in the fields, people would have to borrow money from the king’s treasury—at interest. If they wanted a medium through which to transact at the local marketplace, it meant becoming indebted to the aristocracy.”” [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes a medieval flow‑based economy where money circulated rapidly, boosting wages, health, and profits, but lacking long‑term value storage, leading to massive architectural investment and eventual centralization of currency by monarchies to extract interest. **In simple terms:** A historic economy of fast money flow and wealth redistribution. Key Takeaway Rapid circulation fuels growth; central control extracts value. Themes Economic history Monetary policy Social stratification Urban development Cultural investment Mood optimistic critical reflective Type historical analysis economic commentary sociopolitical critique When to use this quote - Medieval market towns - Cathedral construction projects - Rise of merchant class - Feudal peasants - Royal treasuries Key Concepts Flow‑based economy Local currencies Centralized money Interest‑bearing debt Practical Applications - Designing modern community currencies - Analyzing historical monetary transitions Questions to Reflect On - What mechanisms can preserve inclusive wealth distribution in modern economies? - How might digital currencies avoid the pitfalls of historic centralization? 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Meanwhile, with no way of storing or growing value with this form of money over the long term, people made massive investments in architecture, particularly cathedrals, which they knew would attract pilgrims and tourists for years to come. This was their way of investing in the future, and the pre-Renaissance era of affluence became known as the Age of Cathedrals. The beauty of a flow-based economy is that it favors those who actively create value. The problem is that it disfavors those who are used to reaping passive rewards. Aristocratic landowning families had stayed rich for centuries simply by being rich in the first place. Peasants all worked the land in return for enough of their own harvest on which to subsist. Feudal lords did not participate in the peer-to-peer economy facilitated by local currencies, and by 1100 or so, most or the aristocracy’s wealth and power was receding. They were threatened by the rise of the merchant middle class and the growing bourgeois population, and had little way of participating in all the sideways trade. The wealthy needed a way to make money simply by having money. So, one by one, each of the early monarchies of Europe outlawed the kingdom’s local currencies and replaced them with a single central currency. Instead of growing their money in the fields, people would have to borrow money from the king’s treasury—at interest. 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