I've read conflicting advice on the use of the word "goods" in an economic context (e.g. "goods for sale"). One piece of advice is that it is a plural noun that should never be used singular (e.g. "one type of good for sale).
However, I've also seen prominent usages of the singular form: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_(economics)
I'm making a computer program with some logic revolving around economic goods. Lets say I classify various Merchants by the types of goods they sell, and obviously a merchant may sell multiple types of goods.
So I may ask a user of my program "What types of goods does this merchant sell?" and present them with a list of goods, from which they can select one or more.
- Clothing
- Food
- Vehicles
- etc…
It makes sense to me that I might label the list "Goods Sold" because odds are a merchant sells multiple types, and even if they don't (say they only sell clothing), are likely to carry many styles and varieties within that type, therefore "goods."
Let's say I want to give my user a screen where they can pick from the list of possible goods, and see all the merchants which sell that good. I would ask them "Which good type would you like summarized" or "Pick good type". In this instance, I'm restricting them to choosing only one item in the list above. To me, "Pick a goods type" or "Which goods type would you like to see summarized" sound wrong but I really can't place why.
So the question really boils down to this: in the list above, is clothing a "Good Type" or a "Goods Type" (or perhaps "Type of Good" vs "Type of Goods")?
Best Answer
The OED 'goods' - meaning: C lll 7b would seem to suggest that the singular form is obsolete and (7a (b)) that the plural form, 'goods' is used for singular.
However, I recalled from Pure Economics that theoretical Economists, will often refer to an 'economic good'. I was delighted to discover that the OED has a separate entry on 'economic good' which appears below. I regret though that this may not be much help to you.
economic good n. a commodity or service which is sufficiently scarce in relation to demand to command a price.
2000 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 115 138 Health care is an economic good, that is, a scarce resource that cannot be provided to everyone.