The Resonating Interval:
Exploring the Process of the Tetrad
By Anthony Hempell
Tetrads: Past
Cash Money

The use of coins and paper money has risen and fallen throughout the history of civilization. It gained prominence in China in the 9th century B.C., the Roman Empire in the 1st to 4th centuries A.D., and has been a fixture in Western economics since the 14th century onward. Notable modern concentrations of cash money's influence is the modern banking system (reversal into credit) and the current use of the American dollar as a de facto currency in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Table 5: Tetrad of "Cash Money" (McLuhan & Powers, p.173)
(A) Enhancement
Speeds Transactions
Retrieves conspicuous consumption
(C) Retrieval
(D) Reversal
Reverses into credit or non-money
Obsolesces barter
(B) Obsolescence

Speeds Transactions:
The availability of cash increases the "velocity" of the economy, allowing more precise economic exchange than available with trade or barter. Currency is also portable (space-biased).
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Obsolesces barter:
Ease of exchange made available by cash replaces previous economic arrangements which are slower and less portable.
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Retrieves conspicuous consumption:
Possibility of surplus cash increases opportunities for display of wealth as a symbol of economic and social power.
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Reverses into credit or non-money:
The space bias and non-perishable format of cash allows for futures speculation in the form of loans, interest, and eventually banking.
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Introduction | The Global Village | Tetrad:Concept | Tetrads:Present | Tetrads:Future | Bibliography
copyright ©1996 by Anthony Hempell.