Jamie Compton

Jamie plays bass guitar in the R&B band with Kevin and Jason. He studied classical music because his parents forced him to take lessons at the age of 5 and still plays violin. But while he would love to be in a symphony orchestra he thought he could improve his popularity at school by taking up bass and acting cool.

The other kids all know he is gay but he hasn't told his parents yet and often loses his temper when they want to know who his girlfriend is. His mother is always saying to him 'but you play in the band, you must have girls falling over you?'

• Age: 16 years
• Height: 165 cms
• Interests: Looking cool in drag
• Weakness: Self-obsessed with a short fuse

Jason Brown

Jason is another mate of Kevin and plays drums in their R&B band. He comes from an indigenous family. He is always calm and assumes authority among his friends when chaos sets in. He is going on 17 and the few months of age difference between him and his friends allows him to take on a leadership role.

He wants to study history when he goes to university and is interested in indigenous struggles against colonialism. Recently he has read snippets from a book about the way the French imposed its currency on the West African nations and has become interested in learning more about these issues.

He finds Jamie fascinating because deep down he wanted to study classical music himself and often asks Jamie questions about it.

• Age: 16 years
• Height: 185 cms
• Interests: Reading, Buddy Rich, Hip Hop.
• Weakness: Tries to live up to other peoples expectations.

Brian Wilson

Brian is a class mate of Kevin's and his parents are both school teachers who have instilled in him a love of learning and he enjoys studying history and maths. His mates affectionately have given him the nickname 'swot'.

He came across Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) when he wondered how it was that the government could immediately spend money on military equipment yet always claimed they didn't have any money for anything he considered important such as public schools and hospitals. He recently learned that Kevin has also developed an interest in MMT and so he often talks with him about it.

He is also has a crush on Rose and spends time in the band room after school hours watching the band rehearse.

• Age: 16 years
• Height: 173 cms
• Interests: Reading books and non-violent computer games.
• Weakness: Get's lost in idealistic dreaming.

Kevin Smith

Kevin is in the final year of high school and wants to be a musician. He loves playing guitar and his hero is Jimi Hendrix. He is also very concerned about climate change and writes songs about the damage humans are doing to Mother Earth.

He came across a blog about economics by an economist who also plays guitar in a band and that is how he encountered Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). He spends his free time (most of his time) learning guitar riffs and reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos about MMT. He thought it was really cool for a guitar player to also be an economist and so he decided to pursue economics when he goes to university next year. He regularly creates arguments in the household over his father's right-wing views about economics.

• Age: 16 years going on 17
• Height: 175 cms
• Interests: Playing guitar and song writing.
• Weakness: Spends too much on the Internet and daydreaming about girls.

Allison Chang

Allison is one of the gang of school friends at Kevin's high school. She lives with her mother and three younger brothers and sisters. Her mother was divorced when Allison was three years old and has raised four kids by herself. As the oldest in the family, Allison spends a lot of time helping her mother take care of her brothers and sisters.

She is a talented runner and belongs to the local athletics team, having started out in the local road runners club when she was young. She hopes to represent the country at the next Olympics.

She is oblivious to the fact that Kevin has a crush on her.

• Age: 16 years
• Height: 175 cms
• Interests: Running.
• Weakness: Scared of thunderstorms and lightening - especially when out training.

Rose Graham

Rose is the lead vocalist in the local band. Her family is very conservative and Rose has rebelled and always looking for alternatives to mainstream ideas. She often says: 'My rule is to work out what my parents would do and then do the opposite'.

Her confident is Allison.

• Age: 16 years
• Height: 160 cms
• Interests: Singing and writing songs.
• Weakness: Loud people.

Daniel Jones

Daniel is the local tennis star. He has known Kevin since they were childhood playmates in the neighbourhood. He doesn't particularly get on with Kevin now but some of that is because his father is continually criticising Ryan Smith whenever he gets the opportunity. The other reason is that he is not in the local band, which is a clique within itself. His tennis skills bring him popularity among the girls who think he is larger than life. But he is mostly all talk - a trait inherited from his father.

He is constantly buckling under the pressure from his father to achieve high academic grades so that he can go to one of the better universities as a pathway to getting into financial market speculation. Interestingly, while he has grown up in a rich family and has all the electronic gadgets and expensive sporting equipment at his disposal, he feels a certain emptiness as a result of observing his unhappy parents and their obsession with money.

He continually wishes his parents would get back together again

• Age: 16 years
• Height: 188 cms
• Interests: Watching sport on TV and playing virtual games.
• Weakness: Has been devastated by the breakdown of his parent's marriage.