I live on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
For a few months in the late 1970s I worked for a publishing company in Dundee, which was my first and last salaried job. After that I learned how to build boats and went on to earn my living for the best part of 20 years designing, building and repairing things: boats, furniture, houses, sheds, tools, vehicles, bridges, and the like.
More recently my working life has been spent helping people to get things done as well as possible, on time, within budget, for the minimum amount of fuss. Apart from the discipline of turning trees into boats, I am a generalist: someone who has learned a little bit about lots of different things. I’m useful to my clients because I’m curious about how things work and will ask questions until I find a plausible answer that can be applied to the job in hand.
The desire to find more elegant ways of doing things extends beyond my work into everyday life. This blog is a place to discuss how we manage the world around us and what we can do to make it work better.
In 2010 the euro crisis was big news, the aftermath of the 2007/08 credit crunch was in full swing, and no-one appeared to have a clue what could be done to fix the mess that we were in. Having failed in the past to make any sense of conventional economics I decided to look at the problem from the perspective of money and credit, and learned some surprising things about how our economy really works. My research made me realise that our misuse of money is at the root of our economic woes and led me into writing a book about the subject, which is available from Amazon in paperback and eBook.
Views From The Boatshed 
Good on you, Malcolm, for sticking to the motto “Live and Let Learn”.
Given that SoundEagle’s writing here is the very first comments on this “About” page since your new blog’s inception, SoundEagle would like to wish you a new dawn and a satisfying journey of blogging in the final quarter of 2013, as you gradually carve out your special “place to discuss how we manage the world around us and what we can do to make it work better.”
SoundEagle hopes that you continue to do very well and find fulfilment in whatever you enjoy doing and savouring, especially through your new blog as a creative outlet to share and document your thoughts and opinions, and as a vehicle or medium to write about how, why and when “our misuse of money is at the root of our economic woes”.
Cheers and happy November to you, Malcolm!
Thank you for the kind comments.
You are very welcome.
Hi Malcolm
I stumbled upon your site looking for soft wing sails as I am building a soft wing sails for my cat ketch Shearwater in the next two months. My plans are well advanced. I was sorry to read that your boat Spark burned as it was a beautiful vessel.
My wife is attending the Clan MacLeod Parliament at Dunvegan this July and I regret that I am not coming to Skye with her as I would enjoy a visit and hearing your experience with the soft wing sail and find out about the boat you are building.
I am a professional economist (retired) mainly interested in transportation economics but I will read with interest your views on the banking system. When I graduated gold was $35, exchange rates were fixed and I thought I understood banking. It has been a steep learning curve.
best personal regards
John Robertson
Saturna Island BC Canada
John,
I look forward to hearing more about your wing sail. I got diverted to exploring delta sails a few years ago which are simpler to build than a wingsail. Recently, however, money and finance have been absorbing most of my spare time.
Hi Malcolm – i just found your blog because i was feeling guilty about not paying attention to people who follow mine. I am in general not much bothered about followers – it seems a sort of competition I am not wanting to be in. However, I am now appreciating you writing very much, and have re-blogged your description of the money systems – hope that is OK with you. I am now off to download your book to the Kindle. Will return, Thanks, Elspeth
Hello Malkolm,
Your book “Our Money” is among the best few as a resource for propmoting economic literacy.
Thanks for putting in the work it entailed,
Janos
Apologies for the continental spelling of your first name
Thanks Janos. Glad you enjoyed it.