That's the economics lesson that Kyle MacDonald has taught the world. An aspiring writer from Montreal, the 26-year-old MacDonald decided on July 12, 2005 to see if he could use the leverage of the Internet to trade for a house, beginning with a red paper clip.

Posting on Craigslist and then on his blog, he went from trade to trade and created a tsunami of publicity, online and off. "Good Morning America," Canadian and Japanese TV, and others wanted to see what "trading up" could mean on the Net.

First, he traded the paper clip for a fish pen owned by two vegans from Vancouver. (He figured that, being vegans, they "wanted very little to do with a fish.") Then, 10 minutes after getting the pen, he got a call from a ceramic sculptor in Seattle about trading the pen for a handmade doorknob.

A Stove, a Generator, a Keg of Beer

And on it went, an ascending stairway of one object and its story leading to the next one, each a bit better in value and publicity. The doorknob was traded for a Coleman stove owned by a guy in Amherst, Massachusetts, who wanted to fix the knob on his espresso maker. The stove became a red generator, then a keg of beer and an electric Budweiser sign. (In a cross-trade gesture, he made a short Internet video of the lit sign being powered by the generator.)

The keg of beer and sign begat a snowmobile, followed by prepaid travel arrangements to the tiny town of Yahk in the Canadian Rockies. MacDonald was then briefly the owner of, in order, a van truck, a contract with a small recording company, a year's free rent in a Phoenix apartment, and an afternoon with rock legend Alice Cooper.

Then, in what at first appeared to be a stunning down-trade, he traded Alice Cooper for a motorized, glitter-ized snow globe depicting the band KISS.

A Speaking Role

But the snow globe was exactly the right move. Actor Corbin Bernsen ("L.A. Law," "Major League"), who happens to collect snow globes, got wind of this barter ambassador. Bernsen traded a speaking role in a movie he will be directing for the KISS globe. The deal was still warm when MacDonald was contacted by the Mayor of Kipling, Saskatchewan.

The town of 1,100 traded MacDonald a three-bedroom house on Main Street in exchange for the movie role. The town plans on holding an "American Idol"-style competition for the part, with entry fees going to charity.

On July 12, 2006, exactly one year and 14 trades from his start, MacDonald took ownership of the house in Kipling, which, appropriately enough for an aspiring writer, is said to be named for Rudyard Kipling.

MacDonald said he and his girlfriend will live there for at least a year, while he writes a book about the value of a single, red paper clip.