Disembodied wrote:The Co-operative, unlike some societies I could mention, isn't daft enough to let its economy run wild with nobody at the controls ...

Another dig like that and I'll give you a good slapping![/gordo]

Apologies if I step too heavily on anybody's political sensitivities.
I use the station trading F8 to generate some cash early on to kit out my ship. Then I use F8 F8 to build my carrier rep. After having done a load of contracts across several galaxies, I find that I have more money than I know what to do with. A couple of choices now present themselves:
Find a ludicrously expensive OXP ship to buy and soak up all those credits or
Stick with the Cobbie (or other core ship) and focus on achieving Elite combateer rating, using the stockpile of cash to cover ship refurbs, missiles, fuel, dirtside recreation etc.
You know how in Star Trek TNG they no longer have use for money and are free to just go about seeking out 'new life and new civilisations' and generally improving themselves, well the parallel with the 'more money than I know what to do with' Elite / Oolite scenario is that you are free to boldly go about seeking out 'new victims and new combat ratings'.