A clear, concise and entertaining introduction to the economics of today, written by Sydney Morning Herald/The Age economics guru Ross Gittins. Drawing on many of Ross's popular columns and the needs of final year high school economics students, Gittins' Guide provides bite-sized, easy-to-follow explanations of the key issues in economics and macroeconomics that shape our world. Featuring Ross's trademark intelligence, clarity and down-to-earth approach, this book is essential reading for senior students and anyone who wants a better understanding of what economics - and economic policies - are all about.

In 1989 the first edition of this book set out Gittins' pioneering index solution to the multi-armed bandit problem and his subsequent investigation of a wide of sequential resource allocation and stochastic scheduling problems. Since then there has been a remarkable flowering of new insights, generalizations and applications, to which Glazebrook and Weber have made major contributions. This second edition brings the story up to date. There are new chapters on the achievable region approach to stochastic optimization problems, the construction of performance bounds for suboptimal policies, Whittle's restless bandits, and the use of Lagrangian relaxation in the construction and evaluation of index policies. Some of the many varied proofs of the index theorem are discussed along with the insights that they provide. Many contemporary applications are surveyed, and over 150 new references are included. Over the past 40 years the Gittins index has helped theoreticians and practitioners to address a huge variety of problems within chemometrics, economics, engineering, numerical analysis, operational research, probability, statistics and website design. This new edition will be an important resource for others wishing to use this approach.

Vatican II’s famous declaration that "the church on earth is by its very nature missionary” has often been taken out of context and used to support all manner of church initiatives. But, the conclusion of the statement—"since . . . it has its origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit"—is of monumental importance. In The Way of Discipleship, theologian Anthony Gittins describes the eternal mission of the Trinity, historically brought "down to earth" in the ministry of Jesus, and then continued to the ends of the earth by those called and sent as disciples throughout future generations. Gittins explains that Christian discipleship must be the living out of Jesus' own example in many different times and places. He encourages people of all ages to follow the invitation of Jesus to be missionary disciples. The Way of Discipleship explores several New Testament examples of Jesus' call and commissioning, distills the principles involved, and then recontextualizes the stories so that they pose a direct challenge to disciples today. In this way, Gittins builds up a picture both of "the Way" of Jesus himself, and of the way in which today's disciples can loyally follow his call to mission.

This powerful, moving, and "disturbing" book looks at the contemporary issues that block the attainment of a revitalized Church--a Church united rather than fragmented, a Church tuned to justice for all rather than to provincial myopia. A Presence That Disturbs will engage the general reader and the specialist alike with a fresh perspective on what it means to follow Christ. Three themes garnered from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl underpin the message of this book. To live you must choose: you must not let life "just happen." To love you must encounter: you must know that human encounter is the only authentic way to know and love. To grow you must suffer: you must know that suffering can be a vehicle of growth, a chance for redemption, a way to turn ourselves to the outside. Tony Gittins discusses these themes in the context of the search for meaning. The new lease on life endowed by the Holy Spirit, the function of imaginative ministry, the communitas of true discipleship, and the radical actions of Jesus' ministry are just a few of the ideas explored in the quest for a new understanding of discipleship. "Authentic Christianity," says Gittins, "is outreaching and encountering; it communicates and ministers. Christianity, like its sibling, Judaism, does not produce complacency, but complicity or participation with others. These pages are an invitation to renewed discipleship and an appeal to radical Christianity in the footsteps and in the Spirit of Jesus, who prayed that his followers be one in Him." View sample pages. Paperback

For forty years Ross Gittins has had a ringside seat as the Australian economy has gone through radical change. He's covered forty budgets and sixteen elections, he's watched thirteen treasurers and eight prime ministers wrestle with boom and recession, debts and deficits. Few economic journalists have earned such respect for their views from participants and readers alike. His even-handedness and his clarity of vision have left countless readers better informed about how the complexities and contradictions of the modern economy affect our daily lives. Thrown into the deep end as a cadet journalist, Ross covered his first mini-budget lockup in 1974, and was soon covering the financial roller coaster ridden by the Whitlam government. From then on, no government and no treasurer has escaped analysis - he anoints Keating, Costello, and Swan as his three best - and throughout the book he critiques without fear or favour the ministers and bureaucrats who have shaped our economic wellbeing. This son of a Salvation Army major and one-time accountant is an old school journo through and through. With four decades of printers' ink in his veins, he dissects the newspaper game, remembers the great editors and journalists who have sharpened our minds and his, and lays down some hard facts about a hard future. Honest, robust and intelligent, Gittins is as insightful and entertaining as the man himself.

Our globalized world increasingly brings together people of many different cultures, though not always harmoniously. In recent decades, multinational companies have sought more efficient strategies for authentic intercultural collaboration. But in today's multicultural world-church, faith communities too—from local parishes to international religious communities—are faced with the challenge of intercultural living. The social sciences have developed some constructive approaches, but people of faith also need to build their endeavors on a sound biblical and theological foundation. Living Mission Interculturally integrates sociology/anthropology with practical theology, reminds us that good will alone is not enough to effect change, and points to a way of intercultural living underpinned by faith, virtue, and a range of new and appropriate skills.