Listen to the media and our politicians and you’ll hear all kinds of talk about increases in the cost of living and the pressure it is putting on families. Problem is, it’s just not true. The chart below shows changes in the Consumer Price Index, which is the standard measure for inflation. As you can see, there were steep increases in the cost of living around 1950, through the 1970s...
A few years ago JK Rowling delivered an amazing commencement speech at Harvard University. Titled “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination”, Rowling describes how seven years after graduating from University her marriage had broken down and she found herself an unemployed, single parent living in poverty. She was, in her mind, an abject failure. But hitting rock bottom...
I have made just one new year resolution this year – to give up junk food. In 2012 I ate way too much Maccas, chocolate bars and the like, and it showed on my waistline. It seems I’m not alone. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology showed for Americans the top 10 New Year resolutions for 2012 were Lose Weight Getting Organized Spend Less, Save More Enjoy Life to...
At 4.00am the surface of Jervis Bay is flat like glass, bounded by a thick blanket of stars, a rocky shoreline and a darkness just beginning to be punctured by the emerging dawn. Everything is quiet, accentuating the voices of my fishing companions and the click-clack of trailers reversing down a boat ramp. My ten year old son Lachlan and I are on a fishing trip with eight men and two boys from...