Ross Gittins is the economics guru of Australia. He has the extremely rare and enviable knack of making economics relevant, accessible and, most importantly of all, interesting. He wants to help us to understand just how the economy around us works and to help us 'maximize our utility' - that is, to take control of our lives, do less of what doesn't satisfy us and more of what does. The very word 'economics' strikes fear in the hearts of some, but as the great English economist Alfred Marshall put it; economics is the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life. It's this ordinary business of life that Ross Gittins wants to explain.