The Boomer Legacy

Consumer kaizen: We needed to create a culture in which our customers were prepared to kill

High Street bus-stop, Penrith   (Feb 2017,  528kb)

Creating value: Ghost offices; zombie flats; vacant leases

Weeds grew on an abandoned eight-storey office-block used for land-banking, at Clarence Street in Sydney   (Oct 2012,  319kb)

Consumer karoshi: We needed to create a culture in which our customers were prepared to die

Market Street escalators at Centrepoint, Sydney   (Jan 2016,  306kb)

Defenestrate your livelihood: We mortgaged the future and bet it all on there not being one

The Coal Loader wharf, Waverton   (Jul 2017,  455kb)

Espresso Kultur: The al fresco revolution gave tantalising significance to our busy lives

Outdoor cafe seating at Little Everleigh street, Redfern   (Sep 2020,  293kb)

Supporting the Plutonomy: The non-rich only accounted for surprisingly small bites of the national pie (Citigroup, 2005)

Power utility pole opposite the railway station in Warrimoo   (Feb 2011,  310kb)

Too big to fail: It took a long time to establish a perfectly balanced equilibrium of collateralised debt and rising property values

Barangaroo office construction, Millers Point   (Aug 2016,  392kb)

Exuberant expectations: Great success and performance created its own reality (Pfeffer, 2015)

Church Street car dealership, Parramatta   (Apr 2017,  227kb)

Kriegsende 1989: Cheap goods turned out to be better than bullets

Stall on Tverskaya St, Moscow   (Dec 1991,  364kb)

Fumbling the revolution: We threw off the shackles of a command economy to enjoy the benefits of privatisation

Street vendors 200m from the Kremlin on Tverskaya St, Moscow   (Dec 1991,  319kb)

This Land Is Our Land: Keep doubling the population every 35 years → increased aggregate demand → greater aggregate GDP → stronger budget outcomes → accelerating property values → windfall capital gains & property taxes → wealthier property-investors → bustling streets → congestion tax bonanza → more toll-roads, apartment blocks & shopping malls → more bathhouses & shisha lounges → more bubble tea & sushi shops → more construction & business services → more mortgages → more stamp-duties → more negative gearing on property investments → more prosperous banks → more lobbying & political donations → more rezoning, deregulation & tax-reform → more tax-free franking-credit refunds → more retail, hospitality, personal and community services → more legislation, lawyers, litigation & prisons → more tourism & international students → more online food delivery independent contractors → more prostitutes → more cash-in-hand pizza workers → more university & private college enrolments → more waiters, maids, nannies, concierges & au pairs → more yoga instructors, artisans, musicians & small labels → potentially higher rates of workforce participation → boosted supply-side potential → likely productivity benefits → projected greater aggregate income → greater happiness within reunited communities → increasing remittances to family & sponsors overseas → more money in everyone's hip pocket

Front-yard garden gnomes in Summer Hill, Sydney   (Oct 2016,  495kb)

Driven by unceasing mobility: Remember the physical-distancing rule and only travel when essential

Waiting for the Cronulla Ferry at Bundeena Wharf   (Aug 2020,  273kb)

In the circle of FIRE: We made so much money from fees & rents & short-term leases & collateralised debt & margin-accounts & franked dividends & big-dog meetings & asset management & asset concealment & asset stripping & short-selling & bear-raids & gambling wagering & grey-rhinos & black-swans & shiny tech unicorns & fantastical profit projections & 300-year visions & liar loans & money-laundering & cash-for-visas patronage & child-pornography & terrorism financing & tax-planning & tax-evasion & hugely successful bets & insider knowledge & insurance fraud & lying to corporate regulators & rewriting independent reports & unenforced enforceable-undertakings & Glass-Steagall repeal & political donations & influence peddling & door-opening & hiring ex-ministers & rezoning & grey gifts & privatisation & exceptionalism & impunity spells & bailouts & deregulation & strategic litigation & Wagyu-beef-washed-down-with-finest-shiraz judgements & swaps & options & swaptions & binary options & CDOs & COMOs & CDFs & FOREX & FICCs & REITs & FAANGs & BATs & ETFs & PGUC & FOMO & FONGO & BNPL & conjuring ever more abstruse financial products to ensure money kept raining in torrents from the sky, that there was little point in doing anything else

The Elizabeth street facade of the Commonwealth Bank Building   (Oct 2020,  425kb)

Only a tap away: With interest rates at 5000-year lows, affordable mortgages were flying out the door

Art Gallery of NSW window looking east, Sydney   (Mar 2019,  284kb)

Clip service: Legacy media could always look forward to a future overfilled with promise

Testaroossa Sammy-Santino Mens Hairstylist, Double Bay   (Jan 2019,  352kb)

Squad goals: We played in teams, found the back of the net, and were good sports with your money

Vitamin pill promotion at Martin Place in Sydney   (Oct 2014,  781kb)

Uncomfortable at times: Events were still on, motels were still open, restaurants were still serving food and pubs were still pouring beer (Ayers, 2020)

Tour group at the Sydney Opera House forecourt during the summer bushfires   (Jan 2020,  301kb)

Double your money in 7–10 years: Dr Wilson said that Sydney was likely to have a $2 million median house price by 2030 and a $3 million median by 2038 (Daily Telegraph, 2018)

Hopscotch squares at the Woodcroft housing estate, in Blacktown   (Dec 2012,  418kb)

Franchisee nation: The nature of employment changed. We didn't know what the new jobs would be, but we were knew they would come

Food cart on 37th Street, NYC   (Oct 2017,  389kb)

Frictionless intermediation: Because the Sharing Economy sounded so much nicer than Government Regulation Evading Extractive Capitalism (NYTimes, 2017)

Subterranean ingress and egress aperture cover at Watsons Bay   (Dec 2014,  596kb)

Retail led recovery: Luxury brands rode out the pandemic rather well

Luxury goods store entrance, George Street Sydney   (Nov 2020,  303kb)

Alpha Omega: We poured every last ounce of our faith into property

Birrell Street front yard, Bondi Junction   (Oct 2018,  441kb)

Strength Through Joy: The market faithfully rewarded those who took a long-term view

Luna Park Hair Raiser ride, in the rain   (Jan 2019,  185kb)

Forget your past: The house is gone and the yard excavated so deep that every trace of your childhood was obliterated

What was once 12 Kensington Street in Kogarah   (Apr 2011,  386kb)

Ironman's thumbprint: In order to do business, mandatory QR Codes were used to trace our every move

QR Code and hand-sanitiser at a retail entrance, George Street Sydney   (Nov 2020,  189kb)

Surrogate activities: The illusion of economic activity was successfully maintained by creating an archipelago of empty construction sites

Green Square hoardings at Zetland   (Nov 2018,  270kb)

Future growth model: A bustling economy filled with baristas, bloggers and unpaid interns

Lower Baldwin Street, Dunedin NZ   (Nov 2017,  337kb)

A bull market in everything: This time it really was different

Charging bull statue, NYC   (Oct 2017,  226kb)

Covid Safe: Restricted trading hours [✓] Patron number limits [✓] Temperature checks [✓] Sign-in attendance records [✓] Perspex table-shields [✓] 1.5m social distancing [ ]

The Celsius Cafe at Kirribilli Wharf adapts to business conditions under COVID-19   (Nov 2020,  394kb)

Knowledge-based economy: If you could no longer make a profit by making things, then you could profitably spend your time making things up

The interior of the Queen Victoria Building, near Sydney Town Hall   (Jan 2012,  308kb)

All snakes, no ladders: We stuck to the plan, even though we kept changing it

Subterranean utilities footpath markings outside the QVB   (Apr 2015,  386kb)

Keeping interest rates low: Whatever happened, cheap debt could not be blamed

Used car-yard at Parramatta Road Granville   (Apr 2017,  278kb)

The cranes were flying: At one stage there were more apartment construction cranes on the Australian eastern seaboard than in all the major cities in the USA (ABC News, 2016)

Apartment construction cranes at Lewisham   (Sep 2015,  179kb)

A licence to kill: There was nothing on your dinner table that wasn't put there by conscientious transport professionals

The “roo bar” of a prime-mover at Kings Langley, near Blacktown   (Aug 2015,  328kb)

What this little black rock could do: We have to make sure this economy works. We have to export dollars. We have to realise we have a moral responsibility to other people in other nations to keep their lights on (Joyce, 2017)

The Steelworks and Coal Loader at Port Kembla harbour   (Sep 2014,  138kb)

Dutch disease done right: Not to worry. If the economy works the way the textbook says, the gain to miners should flow through to the economy, causing higher wages and tax receipts (Gittins, 2017)

Remnants of the 2000's resources boom at Lithgow   (Aug 2012,  347kb)

Wealth always trickled down: Our system worked so well because enough of the electorate believed they still had some chance to get rich (Citigroup, 2005)

Begging for loose change near Sydney Town Hall   (Sep 2016,  324kb)

Unintended consequences: The truth was there for all to see

Edgecliff Railway station newsagent   (Nov 2017,  284kb)

The boom in retailing: Sell everything and cancel Christmas

82 McEvoy Street, Alexandria   (Mar 2018,  265kb)

Financial kinesiology: Despite all the green-shoots, confidence, sound fundamentals and near-zero interest rates, it appeared we didn't survive the crash

Outside the Sydney branch of the Deutsche Bank in Hunter Street.

A bank security guard tried to prevent me from taking this photograph due to copyright reasons. I hope he enjoyed my detailed and patient lecture on photography-rights   (Jan 2012,  203kb)

Dog-boxes in the sky: Mate, phone-in punters bought them off the plan like it was Christmas

Spacious and exclusively appointed apartments at Broadway, near Central   (Jul 2016,  258kb)

Decades of irrational exuberance: No matter what happened, the market always rebounded

Financial reporter at the Sydney ASX   (Oct 2018,  215kb)

City of forgotten men: There's class warfare all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war and we're winning (Buffet, 2006)

Homeless opposite the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney   (Aug 2014,  367kb)

Practical streetwise living: Stretch out in hygge comfort and throw on an extra blanket

Pitt Street Mall food-court entrance, Sydney   (Jan 2019,  366kb)

The golden hoard: We built stacks of empty apartments for short-term yield-desperate “investors”

The construction boom at Wentworth Point   (Sep 2016,  317kb)

Fierce, Wonderful & Closed: What little trade there was ended up bleeding out slowly

Cafe shop-front during the April COVID-19 lockdown, Katoomba NSW   (Apr 2020,  262kb)

Play the Tradie's Game: Pay for a knock-down-rebuild and then wade through months of excuses as to why it took so unbelievably long to construct a simple suburban house

House demolition and removal at Warrimoo

The original house was demolished in April 2020 and the replacement was still incomplete seven months later…   (Apr 2020,  484kb)

Futuregate: At the end of the day, everyone was talking about how to shape the narrative in a world full of user-generated content

Mainstream media at the Sydney Opera House   (Jul 2014,  304kb)

Segregation now, tomorrow & forever: Few could afford the right to live in their own city

Distillery Drive cutting at Jacksons Landing, in Pyrmont   (Jan 2013,  324kb)

In Goldman, Sachs We Trust: The financial sector was the bedrock of our entire social structure and enabled massive cultural progression — whereas the 1960s were squandered on aerospace and NASA, the 2000s had asset growth via cheap debt and the ISDA

The financial district in eastern Sydney, with the rocket-shaped 1 O'Connell Street in the middle background   (Jul 2011,  225kb)

Wave your paddle: Not a bubble but a sign of growing wealth. House prices barely rose 1½ percent a month, whereas incomes ballooned at 250 basis-points every single year

Stop/ Go drive-way traffic lights at Longworth Ave, in Point Piper   (Sep 2012,  242kb)

Rent not Enterprise: Anyone can become a property tycoon, but they have not got the guts or they have not got the money (Triguboff, 2014)

Vacant commercial land at Lawson in the Blue Mountains   (Jan 2012,  189kb)

Filled with delight: Non-inclusive apartment developments on the site of an old gasworks

Breakfast Point apartments (formerly Mortlake Gasworks), Sydney   (Jul 2014,  273kb)

Genuine underlying growth: In the 1980s we decided to adopt a new neoliberal model where income wealth was exchanged for asset growth

The Futton Street cemetery at Penrith, behind St Stephens Anglican Church   (Dec 2010,  341kb)

Extremely well serviced: Only the wealthiest parts of our cities had regular bus, rail and ferry services

The F5 Neutral Bay ferry leaves Kirribilli wharf   (Nov 2020,  310kb)

Progress ever upward: From warehouses to office blocks to short-term lease apartments

Motorways and the former Caltex building, Sydney   (Sep 2016,  160kb)

Exit strategy: With a strong economy and well-paying jobs that we could easily change; with free education, healthcare and inexpensive housing; with strong social cohesion and connectedness; with an innate sense of purpose and belonging — how could we have been anything other than healthy, prosperous and optimistic?

Fig Street tunnel, Ultimo   (Jul 2017,  410kb)

Thrusting for yield: The ubiquity of synchronised growth led to social and urban density experiments imposed from above

Construction cranes at Australian Technology Park   (Mar 2018,  195kb)

A pattern of abundance: Full automation was the next stage in our collaborative journey

NTP Forklifts (since relocated), at Woodville Road Granville   (Apr 2017,  258kb)

Perestroika revisited: Reaping the benefits of end-stage capitalism

Lansdowne Street, Parramatta   (Apr 2017,  333kb)

Ponzimonium: We ran a Koretz immigration scheme to prop up the Madoff property market to keep the Mavrodi banks flush

Wedding Cake rock, RNP   (Jul 2019,  228kb)

Roses of Picardy: The marriage industry flourished despite the cynicism and malaise

Private wedding ceremony at St Marys Cathedral   (Mar 2019,  295kb)

The ugly shoe movement: Practical footwear for fashion-conscious consumers

Orthopaedic sandals at the QVB Arcade, Sydney   (Nov 2020,  356kb)

Bargains unlimited: We got you both coming and going

Post Christmas sales at the QVB basement, Sydney   (Jan 2018,  270kb)

Knowledge-based service industries: The only way to counter economic headwinds was by being more nimble than the market

Finance workers at Australia Square   (Dec 2004,  256kb)

Look back in covfefe: Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that's more productive (Trump, 1987)

Trump impersonator on Broadway, NYC   (Oct 2017,  267kb)

Creative Destruction: The only way to neutralise dissent was by levelling the playing-field

The abandoned White Bay Power Station at Rozelle   (Jan 2013,  242kb)

Bubble watch: Given the large increases in housing prices in some cities, and ongoing strength in lending to investors in housing assets, members also agreed that developments in the housing market would bear careful monitoring (RBA, 2015)

Spectators on the steps of the former CBC Bank, Martin Place   (Apr 2006,  302kb)

Twilight's last gleaming: We slid down the Phillips Curve until we reached the Minsky Moment

Construction hoarding at Barangaroo, Sydney   (Sep 2016,  199kb)

Zero sum game: The link between free trade and rising global prosperity was self-evident: designed in the USA → marketed from the UK → manufactured by Uyghur forced labour → shipped via Panama → channelled through a Singaporean marketing-hub → transfer-priced through Luxembourg → laundered in Moldova → banked in the Cayman Islands → stashed in a Geneva Freeport vault → splashed on trophy homes, super-yachts, racing cars, helicopters, private school fees, casinos, parties, mistresses, divorce lawyers, drugs and bribes… in New York, Beijing, Bucharest, Latvia, Lagos, Monaco and Riyadh

Shipping container facility at Tempe, near Sydney Airport   (Sep 2012,  325kb)

A foot on the ladder: Who said the sky was the limit? We all got rich flogging real estate to each other at ever-increasing prices. Mate, even a pandemic couldn't slow it down

Renovator's ladder in suburban Stanmore   (Sep 2012,  214kb)

Working with key stakeholders: We could either use General Relativity equations to derive the Schwarzschild metric in n-dimensions, or we could go shopping

Supermarket freezer aisle, Katoomba   (Dec 2003,  265kb)

Public Private Partnerships: A game by/ of/ for mates: Marxism without the dialectic, Socialism in one class

The southern ramp to the Anzac Bridge, at Pyrmont in Sydney   (Jan 2013,  224kb)

Curate an educational passport: The uncapping of university places achieved exactly what it set out to do

University of Sydney main quadrangle   (Oct 2017,  439kb)

Scaffolding everywhere: We turned our lives into a series of transactions to better embrace the future

One Circular Quay construction site, Sydney   (Jan 2018,  311kb)

The road to zero: A globalised market where all tastes were equal and each of us voted only with our dollars

William Street beverage hoarding (since rebuilt) at Kings Cross   (Oct 2012,  332kb)

The shadow state: Our top-down, monolithic, globalist system will endure forever

North from the Empire State Building   (Oct 2017,  504kb)

Living in a film-set: A world of shuttered restaurants, taped-off food-courts and disoriented diners

Deserted food court, Centrepoint Sydney   (Apr 2020,  220kb)

Just visiting: Full speed ahead for the fly-in fly-out money-laundering high-rollers in the sky (L&GNSW Inquiry, 2020)

Crown casino construction, Barangaroo   (Jan 2020,  202kb)

Spare capacity: Feel the love by shopping even more

St Collins Lane shopping arcade, Melbourne   (Apr 2019,  259kb)

Quality by design: Exclusively appointed apartments riddled with gross structural defects and no builders' warranty

Nevada Apartments remediation at Darling Point   (Dec 2018,  277kb)

Practising our future: We poured resources into whatever appealed to our sense of adventure

Abandoned front yard yacht, Kirribilli   (Jan 2020,  455kb)

Empty Nesters: The price of an abandoned house increased by more each day than most people could earn in a week (REA Group, 2017)

Irelands Road in Blacktown, western Sydney   (Dec 2012,  496kb)

The emporium struck back: Department stores battled frantically against irrelevance

Storm-troopers at the David Jones lift-well   (Jan 2019,  147kb)

Unpack & declutter: We created challenging and evolving retail markets

Abandoned docks, Cresswell & Devon Str Dunedin, NZ   (Dec 2017,  253kb)

Flags of convenience: Our vision was to create a better everyday life, by getting our customers to do all the work for free

The united nations of IKEA, at Tempe   (Sep 2012,  211kb)

Back-to-back meetings: When cities when into lockdown during the 2020 pandemic, white-collar work shifted effortlessly online. Consequently CBDs became filled with empty commercial property with few tenants to pay the inflated rents

Queen Street office building at night, Melbourne   (Apr 2019,  182kb)

Boom without end: There was no disconnect between the prosperity we enjoyed and the systematic initiatives we undertook to achieve them

Philip Lodge Motel demolition at Haberfield   (Jun 2016,  477kb)

The engine of growth: Our generation reaffirmed the notion that markets could remain irrational for longer than investors could stay solvent

The window-display for Central Autohaus in Alexandria   (Jun 2015,  249kb)

Agile entrepreneurs: Surveillance cameras [✓]  Motion-activated floodlights [✓]  Canvas-covered windows [✓]  3m high fencing [✓]  Steel chained front gates [✓]  Threatening no-trespass signs [✓]  Resourceful SMEs serving a niche-market [✓]

Domestic bliss on Neville Street in Marrickville   (Sep 2012,  388kb)

Waiting for the great leap forward: From brewery to Kowloon, the third-world was just around the corner

Central Park development, at Broadway in Sydney   (Jul 2012,  224kb)

Go for growth mate: We'll import an army of independent contractors on temporary visas to zip around on Tuk-tuks to collect our night-soil, just like a hundred years ago

Outdoor toilet and “dunny lane”, Lithgow NSW   (Jun 2019,  392kb)

Incentives to succeed: We held these truths to be self-evident: that the Wealthy were job creators and that benefits of Economic Growth were distributed equally

The rear of a Korean restaurant, in a Pitt Street Lane near Town Hall   (Oct 2012,  337kb)

Everywhere the glint of gold: Vibrant cities full of gleaming casinos, buzzing with energy and excitement

Microflite City Helipad, Yarra River Melbourne   (Apr 2019,  343kb)

Borderline conundrum: Self-service was self-defeating when there was no service to serve

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, unused self-service check-in and baggage drop facilities at Sydney Airport's T1 International Terminal, Friday afternoon 12:30 pm   (Oct 2020,  199kb)

Stake your claim: A lot of micro-businesses were created when the factories shut down, resulting in strong employment growth among non-employees

Small business badge window display, Wentworth Street Port Kembla   (Sep 2014,  487kb)

A working harbour: We moored our luxury craft where people once earned a living

Pier 21 at Jones Bay Wharf, in Pyrmont   (Jan 2013,  547kb)

Tyburn revisited: Decades of infrastructure deals and back-room favours had to end sometime

Sydney Metro Project construction site, Martin Place   (Jul 2019,  320kb)

Quantitative legerdemain: We solved mass unemployment easily by redefining what it meant to be “employed”

Red flags at the Circular Quay promenade   (Jul 1992,  467kb)

Love your work: Assistant professor of Irish performance studies; Co-director of Strategic Innovation and Change Management Training; Adjunct Senior Teaching Associate in Comparative & International Literary Studies; Architecture critic & Essayist; Diversity & Inclusion Officer; Emotional Support Clown; Clown Doctor; Thought Leader; Intimacy Co-ordinator; Transition Facilitator; Transitioning Advisor; Sexologist & LGBTQ Specialist; Facebook Strategist; Community Service Associate; Personal Digital Curator; Affiliated Media Director; Communications & Engagement Consultant; Über Delivery Partner; Airtasker Tasker; Online Food Delivery Independent Contractor; Procurement Officer; Lactation Consultant; Caddie; Cabbie; Doula; Kinesiologist; Reflexologist; Homeopath; Jumping Castle Franchisee; Fact Checker; Fire-proofer; Fire-eater; Firewall Officer; Trend Analyst; Euphonium Tutor; Oud Virtuoso; Bullying Victim; Waste Data Handler; UI Designer; Pop-up Dumpling Restaurateur; Bubble Tea Proprietor; Baking Specialist; Artisanal Barista; Latte Artist; Sandwich Artist; Art Therapist; Eyebrow Sculptress; Salsa Dance Teacher; Food & Wellness Blogger; Unicorn Wrangler; Balloon Animal Sculptor; Personal Development Planner; Trainee Personal Trainer; Jims Personal Training Franchisee; Chief Brand and Impact Officer; Part-time Freelance Media Intern; Development Team Scrum Master; Innovation Sherpa; Product Placement Jedi; Mobile App Guru; COBOL Ninja; Chief Evangelist; Experience Designer; Emoji Designer; Avatar Manager; Interim Social Media & Engagement Producer; Relieving Elation Officer

Market Street escalators at Centrepoint, Sydney   (Aug 2018,  295kb)

One country, two systems: Income versus Wealth Inequality — we argued interminably about the former while carefully ignoring the latter

Woodcroft housing estate versus Harris Street Ultimo   (Jan 2013,  268kb)

Potemkin Prosperity: The central irony of the financial crisis was that while it was caused by too much confidence, too much borrowing & lending and too much spending — it could only be resolved with more confidence, more borrowing & lending, and more spending (Summers, 2011)

Green shoots at the Westpac plaza in Sydney   (Jan 2014,  580kb)

Binding energy: Just a spoon full of HFCS helped the processed food go down (Hyman, 2014)

Candle wax at a Kent Street wine-bar, near Town Hall   (Jan 2014,  321kb)

Cargo Culte: We lounged about in ill-fitting uniforms, languidly pressing buttons on small screens… waiting patiently for the day He would return, bearing great gifts

Palm tree outside the abandoned St Mary & St Mina's Coptic Orthodox Church at Sydenham, near Sydney airport   (Sep 2012,  346kb)

Reflating the economy: We proved that old debt could be easily retired by taking on new debt

Tumbalong Park attractions, Darling Harbour   (Jul 2014,  275kb)

The best that money can buy: Of particular interest to ICAC has been the planning decisions along Canterbury Road and Charles Street, which saw some Liberal and Labor councillors voting together to approve developments which council's planning staff had previously rejected due to non compliance (SMH, 2017)

Apartment construction at Charles Str, Canterbury   (Oct 2015,  333kb)

Jobs & Growth: Social cohesion was a luxury we could no longer afford

Wall markings behind Parramatta Road, Strathfield   (Jul 2014,  381kb)

Luxury was a fundamental human right: Stand on principle on the way up and you'll miss the stampede; stand on principle on the way down and you'll be run over

Even the pigeons live in style at Hogben Street in Kogarah   (Apr 2011,  181kb)

Down from the mountain: … and into the markdowns

Leura antique store   (Oct 2018,  236kb)

The rising tide lifted all super-yachts: No matter how bad things looked, income inequality did not get worse (Morrison, 2017)

Darling Harbour Marina   (Jan 2017,  193kb)

Pivoting to home delivery: HungryPanda, Foodora, Uber Eats, DoorDash, EASI, Menulog, Deliveroo, Hey You, GrubHub, goPuff, EatNow, Yelp… We imported an underclass of casual independent contractors to spice up the economy and zip around delivering sushi, burrito bowls, pork dumplings and bubble teas (ABC News, 2020)

Online food delivery rider at Haymarket, near Chinatown   (Apr 2020,  209kb)

The customer was king: Everything you could ever possibly want, at your fingertips

Supermarket checkout, Nepean Village Penrith   (Apr 2003,  250kb)

Not a house of cards then: People's jobs depend on confidence and trust in the financial and banking system. And I can assure [everyone] that, despite the very disturbing and, indeed, shocking revelations we have seen in the Royal Commission, particularly of late, that these issues, while as abhorrent as they are, are completely separate from any question about the stability and strength of [our] banking and financial system. (Morrison, 2018)

Pedestrian footbridge at Barangaroo   (Apr 2016,  286kb)

Taming animal spirits: There is something more systematic about the way people behave irrationally, especially during periods of economic stress (Greenspan, 2013)

Lunchtime in a George Street amusement arcade, Sydney   (Sep 2003,  260kb)

The retail ziggurat: The apex of our commercial sector was the domestic-consumption based economy

Shopping trolleys huddle beneath the mobile-phone towers on top of Marketplace Leichhardt   (Sep 2010,  393kb)

Forging a new deal: The transition from manufacturing to a service-based economy was seamless

Derelict Ford truck at The Grounds of Alexandria   (Apr 2018,  594kb)

On the road to higher values: We spent big on infrastructure to accommodate growing populations

Re-tiling the Sydney Opera House forecourt   (Jul 2014,  252kb)

Have a go to get a go: We lived modestly and well within our means. We worked hard and made prudent investments. So we deserved to keep more of what we earned

Hopetoun Road Toorak, Melbourne   (Apr 2019,  247kb)

A million jobs Mr Speaker: Offshoring brought huge economic benefits which were equally shared

Shepherd Street factory yard, at Marrickville   (Sep 2012,  356kb)

Internal exodus: When people and businesses leave a regional community to take up better opportunities elsewhere, this often generates greater value and so increases the overall well-being of the population as a whole. […] It is a trend that cannot, nor should be, thwarted (Productivity Commission Report, 2017)

Parramatta Rd, Strathfield   (Apr 2015,  337kb)

Life in the Bunkercene: The Lockdown caused us to cocoon just that little bit extra

Martin Place hoardings, Sydney   (Mar 2019,  237kb)