"Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the frim and I will be ruthless."

Warren Buffet upon assuming Chairmanship of Salomon's during its "Liar's Poker" and Mozer crisis, Snowball Warren Buffet and the Business of Life, Alice Schroeder, Random, 2008, p. 603

Latest Papers

The working papers collection comprises historical papers as well as current ideas and works in progress on some of the major issues and topics of our times.

Time (released 6 January 2025)
Old people will often say that, beyond their aches and pains, they still feel the same as they were when they were young. Time is a trickster.
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Wasp (released 1 January 2025)
Hands and fingers are evolved, advanced technology.
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Kia - Brief Etymology of A NSW South Coast Aboriginal Word (released 10 December 2024)
Many Aboriginal people have names beginning with the root "kia", names such as Kiami, Kiama, Kiara or Kiana. The name is derived from an auspicious Aboriginal word referring to the heavens, mountains and the spirit of Biame on the South Coast of NSW and beyond.
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The logging orgy before we were born (released 21 November 2024)
The lost South Coast forests..
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"Word Salad" (released 11 November 2024)
In a world of misinformation, when everybody seems to be lying, “realness” is the most precious commodity.
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The Problem of Presidents... (released 28 July 2024)
The Australian Nation, is a strange webbed footed creature with the bill of a duck and a tail like a beaver, it is an unlikely combination of Westminster "responsible government" and the United States Federal System. The idea of a President is impossible or perilous.. on this much we can hopefully agree across the barricades of politics.
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Social Democratic Consensus is Dead (released 2 July 2024)
The social democratic consensus that has been the moral foundation of much of our world since the 1960s is dead. In public discourse we can no longer assume that values such as democracy, egalitarianism, justice, fairness or even the doctrine of loving one’s neighbour are foundational values which bind us.
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Dhaŋu dhuka (Making the way) (released 1 July 2024)
More on the 2016 Mata Mata walk to Cape Wilberforce with thoughts on the Sja'ir Perang Mengkasar, the Rhymed Chronicle of the Macassar War of 1666
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“..the secret isolated joy…” Letters of Andrew Inglis Clark and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr (1890-1905) (released 26 June 2024)
If Andrew Inglis Clark had enjoyed the long life of his friend Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, Australians would know about their Constitution, Australia would be a republic with an Australian head of State.
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The Bennelong Group by Jim Petrich (released 25 June 2024)
Jim Petrich is an old fashioned mover and shaker. In this short paper Jim describes "The Bennelong Group" - a fabled moment in time when leaders worked together for the national good across the political divides.
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