As the economy slows and productivity flatlines, is Australia having another banana republic moment?

As treasurer, Paul Keating instilled a sense of urgency as he pushed for massive economic reforms, saying if they weren’t carried out ‘Australia is basically done for’. Photograph: David Moir/AAP

When Paul Keating stepped into a noisy kitchen in a Melbourne function centre for an interview with John Laws, he didn’t mince his words.

It was 14 May 1986 when the then Labor treasurer told Laws that without some serious changes, a collapse in export prices meant our trade-dependent country was living beyond its means and fast on its way to becoming “a banana republic”.