79. This first part of this statement means that interpersonal―or social―skills can be marketed as part of a bundle of assets that one might tout to a prospective client, customer, or especially employer. Presumably, the extent and value of these skills can be gauged by ones previous experience with clients and customers or at jobs requiring a significant amount of teamwork and cooperation among workers―as measured by factors such as ones tenure in such a job and letters of reference from supervisors. While this claim seems plausable in the abstract, it ignores critical valuation problems. Furthermore, the claim that the ability to deal with people exceeds the value of all other commodities is an overgeneralization, since relative values depend on particular circumstances. The first problem with this claim is that it is far more difficult to quantify the value of interpersonal skills, or other human qualities, than the value of commodities such as coffee or sugar, which can be measured, weighed, or otherwise examined prior to purchase. To a large extent, the ability to work with people is a quality whose true value can be determined only after it is purchased, then tried and tested for a period of |