So medieval times lasted up until January 3, 2009?

BTW, for a long time I thought that separation of state-and-church was about ending the practice of those in power to tell you what to believe. And taxes of course. But even more, it's about ending the practice of using your manipulated beliefs to coerce you to act in their favor. It's a powerful analogy for the state-and-money separation.

Source? Ad ‘Permission slips’, if you mean IOUs: The Roman Empire had credit money. The Lombardians brought it back in 15th c. The stagnation in Europe was between.