I happen to be sitting on the hotel terrace next to a bunch of middle-aged Brits. There are eight of them. Judging by their banter, they must be connected by family ties. I have no idea where they are from, but I would go for Liverpool. In other words, I cannot understand them all that well, but I am quite sure their main topic of conversation over lunch is e-bay. One of them appears to be an expert. Two or three others seem not to be very far from his prowess with the Internet auction house. The subject fascinates them no end, especially when the savings are spelled out in gory detail. And the detail is truly fascinating. So many pounds and pennies here, and so many pounds and pennies there. The reckoning is painfully exact. The economist in me wakes up in the end: pounds and pennies are the sole guides to the human soul. Or at least the swiftest ones among many.