ok, this is probably old news to people who live in blogland,
but i thought it was interesting enough to post.
this dude had the goal of trading up in value
from a single red paper clip to a house....
and he did it in a year. that's right he traded his paper clip for something
then traded it for something, etc, etc, until he got a house.
it's a pretty incredible story, and it's well documented on his blog.
the pivotal trade seemed to be when he (seemingly) irrationally
traded away "one afternoon with Alice Cooper" for a Kiss snow globe....
i'll let your read the rest...
anyway, it teaches an interesting lesson of inherent value,
and how much the US loves to back a loser (hello W!)