And at this level, China works if anything in the other direction, because thanks to its low-cost labour force it can pump out goods of all kinds a lot more cheaply than just about anyone else (intriguingly, it even has the market for sex aids sewn up).

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

Another idea that really does not stand up to scrutiny: of all the activities that humans engage in that competition for sex is almost certainly the most market like behaviour we indulge in.

FORBES: Internet Dating Destroys Our Humanity

My attention was drawn to this market by a review at the Feminist Law Professors Blog on the newest book in the gamete-trade, Sex Cells: The Medical Market for Eggs and Sperm.

FORBES: Sperm Donors are from Mars, Ova-Sellers from Venus