Free Trade

Pastorius has an article up at Astute Bloggers that tells a story of a man who traded his way from a paperclip to a house in 14 trades. Pastorius thinks this is a sign of decadence.

I don't:

Every body involved in the trades got something out of it.

i.e. something s/he wanted more.

Entertainment, something to do, the nice feeling you get when you do a good deed. An item preferred over the item traded. Reflected glory.

That is what is so neat about the free market. It can satisfy needs that are hard to quantify.