Yet, over this period, we have enjoyed a strong rise in our living standards, the unemployment rate has  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  come down substantially and we have generated around 4 million new jobs across the economy, mostly in the services sector. As I said, the other big source of unpredictability has been shifts in the global economy.
You might recall that around the time of the Sydney Olympics there was much gnashing of teeth by those who saw Australia as an old economy, just selling resources to the rest of the world at ever-declining prices. We were seen by many to be locked out of the ‘new economy’ and destined for decline.