Alan Oster’s father always wanted him to run the family garage in Newcastle. So when Oster turned 18, his dad gave him a car – the only problem was, Oster had to assemble it from thousands of pieces.

Oster never went into the family business, but he’s made a career out of trying to piece together the puzzle that is the Australian economy. After 32 years as chief economist at National Australia Bank, Oster will retire at the end of this month.