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"I'll grab my stuff!" "There is no time. Your sword is enough."

We're not going to try to design an economy for this setting, so this article is mostly OOC.

Equipment in the post-Appearing world can be bought in a variety of currencies, since every country prints their own; however, these are pegged at fixed ratios (one US dollar equals one French franc etc. with a few exceptions such as Italian lire and Japanese yen), and travelers will find that exchange bureaus charge very nominal or even no fees. Greater Israeli currency (sheqelim) is accepted worldwide. Of note, the Euro/ECU European currency unit was never re-established due to its perceived connection with the Antichrist.

A large bill ($1000 or so) is called a "talent" and a small coin (1c or so) is called a "mite" regardless of currency.

Also due to a perceived connection with the Antichrist, electronic currency is discouraged - banks allow remote withdrawals from a teller's desk, but the accounts are equalized by ferrying gold, usually at the end of the month.

Note however that post-Appearing society has little room for scarcity: food is abundant, most plant matter is edible and most water is safe to drink, and living space is at anything but a premium. The greater economy is mediated by God Himself, so there is never need to worry about glut or penury.

This works in a very simple system; for most transactions (and certainly for pretty much all large transactions) a Christian merchant will briefly ask the Lord for guidance about the buyer, receiving one of the traditional answers NO, YES, and NOT YET.

In the first case, the transaction is canceled. In the second case, the prospective buyer will be given the good or service free of charge. In the third case, or if there is silence, the transaction proceeds normally. Unbelieving merchants are a small enough part of the economy that their actions do not significantly affect it.

It's entirely possible for someone with a highly active spiritual life, say a professional roving missionary, to effectively operate in a gift economy while his believing neighbor to the right enjoys a stable free-market economy and his unbelieving neighbor to the left must find and make grey-market deals for everything except for the basic necessities.

Post-Appearing society places emphasis on basic crafts; many things that could be made industrially, like fabric, are woven in homes and small workshops by families or local co-ops that encompass groups of friends. The practical effect of this is that prices remain low, as the work is distributed well enough to be light and enjoyable.

High technology products are considerably more scarce, usually due to lack of demand, and are designed to last a long time to prevent having to over-industrialize or succumb to planned obsolescence; this keeps the economy stable and prevents futile performance wars. A computer built in +200 will have roughly twice the memory and CPU capacity of a computer built in +100, and the latter will be about ready to be replaced by the former.

In general, basic consumables cost about half as much as they do for us today, durable goods (toasters, clothing, books) cost as much as they do today but last much longer, and high-tech equipment or weapons may be hard to obtain and cost twice as much as they would today. Media consumption devices such as radios or TVs, and basic cell phones (flip, box, or transcutaneous) are effectively subsidized and count as durable goods. For example, your 20 franc shoes will probably last you five years, and your 2000 franc 486 laptop is likely to keep running for twenty, as long as you replace the battery regularly.

If you are familiar with the post-WW2 economic boom period of the mid 1950s, use it as a guide for what is available, with a few exceptions like personal phones and terminals. It is socially acceptable for the members of a middle class household to go to school or to work with clothes that have a few tasteful patches, although they wouldn't wear them to church (unless they were signaling distress).

Due to the global flattening, heavy metals are obtained via "gentle" stripmining in which rocks are crushed, harvested, and then put back under the soil; this is actually a long-term form of land reclamation in the service of the ever-expanding fields and orchards, that has mineral extraction as a side benefit. The general economic direction seems to be going towards global pastoralization by the time of the Final Victory.