The firm is now considering ways of marketing diamonds as branded luxury goods, marked with the De Beers guarantee of quality and untainted origin (see article).

ECONOMIST: How to stop diamonds paying for nasty African wars

The three-hour drive to Florence was our last long bus trip, and Li raced through some topics, including Catholics and divorce, Pavarotti, balsamic vinegar, truffles and the pigs that find them, and leather goods that are marked as Italian but made in China.

NEWYORKER: The Grand Tour

The new stores have had difficulty building traffic and have sold more marked-down goods to move the inventory.

FORBES: Retailers

Rather than symbolising Japan's apparently insatiable desire for luxury goods, however, this may have marked the start of its decline.

ECONOMIST: Why sales of luxury goods are slowing

There has also been a marked decline in exports of engineering goods, textiles and iron ore.

BBC: How worrying is India's current account deficit?

The bank said a marked fall in demand for manufactured goods lay behind the latest decline.

BBC: Scottish economic growth 'slows further'

Use only professional-quality goods: Serious games are always played with plastic cards, which are not as easily marked or damaged as paper ones.

FORBES: Play Nice, Boys

Firms are understandably reluctant to expand operations in an environment where households are debt-ridden and the financial sector continues to be marked more by a desire to get rich quick than facilitate the production of goods and services.

FORBES: The Coming Recession: How Fiscal Responsibility is Economic Suicide