Money is still the prime currency. Attention is just a proxy for it.
The problem is that, now more than there ever has been, there is a direct link between attention and money - in particular advertising - on a scale that is measured down to micro-engagements. To maximise profit you need to do whatever you can do legally to get your ad revenue (or whatever).
Calling it the "attention economy" gives the impression that the problem is the consumer demanding an endless sea of changing content, whereas actually there's a profit motive to generate a lot of content in the cheapest possible way, to push it on people as much as possible, and the quality of that content only matters if you care about retention.
The problem is that, now more than there ever has been, there is a direct link between attention and money - in particular advertising - on a scale that is measured down to micro-engagements. To maximise profit you need to do whatever you can do legally to get your ad revenue (or whatever).
Calling it the "attention economy" gives the impression that the problem is the consumer demanding an endless sea of changing content, whereas actually there's a profit motive to generate a lot of content in the cheapest possible way, to push it on people as much as possible, and the quality of that content only matters if you care about retention.