Diamonds are Forever

(independent.org) - Forged miles beneath the earth’s crust. Eternal—or as close as we get in this vale of tears. Objects of endless fascination and avarice, the diamond is at times witness to bloody conflict in its production and exchange (more on that below). Diamonds have proven irresistible to the scholar’s pen (admittedly, a low bar) and the professor’s lecture (admittedly, a lower bar).
They’re also my answer to a friend’s question recently posed to me. “Suppose you had to teach a semester-long class,” he began. “So far, so good,” I’m thinking. “Using examples from only one object.” “That’s a lot harder,” I chew on the problem. “What would it be?” he asks. It wasn’t but a moment before I hit on my answer. A typical semester includes about fourteen weeks of instruction. 
How much economics could I teach, using only diamonds for illustration? Pretty far, I think, and far enough. Here’s a quick whirlwind tour—fourteen topics, fourteen weeks. I’d have to teach the class to flesh out the details, but this is a start.