Australian Left Review
Article Title
The Dead Pool
Abstract
One of my Melbourne mates, retrenched nine months ago, invested the bulk of his redundancy package in a backyard in-ground swimming pool. The cagey builders had emphatically guaranteed against it but, sure enough, the finishing touches were applied just in time for autumn. With Melbourne's fickle weather an outdoor swimming pool is always a risky investment. Apart from one fleeting foray into the arctic depths of his pool, Greg will have all winter to contemplate the wisdom of his $15,000 aquatic investment. Pardon the pun but it is a classic case of sunk cost. The Melbourne CBD too is littered with other megabuck sunk cost projects: some fully kitted out towers, others resembling muddy swimming holes in the ground.
This paper has been withdrawn.