The evolution of money illustrates how each new social institution creates linkages with other existing social institutions as it develops and those linkages gradually expand into complex networks of relationships until they become inseparable elements of a single social web. The evolution of money began as a medium of exchange and measure of value money, thus serving as a stimulant for the exchange of goods and services. As a medium for storage of value, it gave rise to banking. By creating and lending money, banks became catalysts for the further development of trade and industry. In the form of taxation, money supported the development of government. These linkages are direct expressions of the primary powers of money to facilitate transactions.