My name is Warren Ross and I am a freelance writer and community organiser with a longstanding interest in finance and economics. For 25 years, I worked as an information, business and database analyst for leading Australian financial organisations in Sydney. In part, I have created this site to save myself from repeating the same posts and arguments over and over again in reply to questions raised on social media. I am not an economist and other than the simple introductory concepts raised in this blog will refer to the relevant experts beyond that point.
A firm believer in community action, I was both director and committee member, for many years, of one of Australia’s largest community events – the Katoomba Winter Magic Festival, managed a local exchange trading system, am a board member of a local NDIS provider and am currently working in health care.
Are They Quiet or Sneaky?
Who are the Coalition’s quiet Australians?
Are they drawn to Scomo’s circle by the gentle lilt of his “I love Stralia”? Do celebrations like Barnaby Joyce’s on election night, “Sucked in you suckers”, send them into a meditative trance? You can see them in their slippers quietly shuffling out to pick up the morning paper. Perhaps, they get there early to “catch it on the full” and avoid the thud of a hurled Tele or Herald Sun disturbing their quiet neighbours. If they’re retired, it’s probably off to the library where a publicly funded Financial Review let’s them check up on their Telstra or Westpac shares. If they’re workers, it’s always the quiet carriage or SmoothFM just loud enough to conceal the hum of the car that they have worked so hard to pay off in stoic silence.
An age of plenty
Where does money come from?
I can’t think of a more important or confusing question. When we run short of something in our daily lives we normally do something about it. Whether we are short of carrots, cars, computers or crayons we don’t have to think too hard about what to do. We go to the dealer, supermarket or art supply shop and get what we need.
The truth is that in this age of plenty we rarely run short of anything. We might lack one of these items as individuals. Not everyone has a car or computer. However, society rarely if ever runs out of anything. Our supermarkets are always stocked with food. A variety of stores provide just about anything we need. The one thing we are short of, as a society, is money. So why don’t we figure out where it comes from and do something about it?
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