My father bought buttons and piece goods.

WSJ: A Homegrown Fashion Mogul

As for the stories, which are told in straight chronological order, they're amusing when taken one by one, but they don't come remotely near adding up to a plot, nor do they make you care about Ms. Mengers, who comes across as a thoroughly nasty piece of goods, the kind of "friend" who starts gossiping about you as soon as you leave the room.

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Nobody could believe this piece of damaged goods was worth anything.

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As if to emphasise the point, the briefcases given as part of a press kit to journalists at the summit were manufactured in an industrial zone where 13, 000 Jordanian workers piece Israeli components into goods that are sold free of duty in the United States.

ECONOMIST: The Arabs�� chat-show

Freddie deBoer has a good piece up on the value of public goods.

FORBES: School Choice and the Value of Public Goods

On the recommendation of several British fashion editors, I visited Vestiaire Collective, the Paris-based resale (translation: the clothes are preowned) site that launched in the U.K. last spring and now ships to the U.S. The selection is thoroughly high-end (celebrities Sophie Dahl and Rachel Weisz have donated goods), and each piece is vetted by in-house specialists who are trained to weed out fakes.

WSJ: The Fashion Piece That Got Away

Money itself is just a collective agreement that a piece of paper can always be exchanged for goods or services.

ECONOMIST: Greed��and fear

An important piece of their value proposition is guaranteeing the goods.

FORBES: Shadow Market Keeps Computer Components Flowing