Using the examples of cathedrals, sports stadia and military installations from the distant past and the more recent present, the chapter explores who paid for these buildings and how the money was raised. It argues that, in the main, it is ordinary people who pay for monuments in the built environment whether they want to or not. The chapter also discusses housing ownership and its relationship to wealth. The chapter raises the issue of how public money should be spent and how the built environment reflects spending priorities. Considering the lack of affordability of housing and the diminished resources of the government to provide, any large public building should always raise the question of whether this is the best use of the available money, especially when that money is raised through taxes.