- When: Tuesday, November 20, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
- Where: Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5
- Click here for Seattle Town Hall’s webpage
Financialization, ineffectual bank regulation, greed, and globalization were not the root causes of the global economic crisis, says economist Yanis Varoufakis; rather, they are symptoms of a much deeper malaise that can be traced from the Great Crash of 1929 to the 1970s: the time when a “Global Minotaur” was born. Just as ancient Athenians maintained a steady flow of tributes to that Cretan beast, so the world began sending incredible amounts of capital to America and Wall Street, making the Global Minotaur the engine that pulled the world economy from the early 1980s to 2008. The result, says Varoufakis, was a system as unsustainable as it was imbalanced, and not only in (present-day) Greece and other European economies making headlines today. When it buckled under its hubris, it delivered a world economy that could not regain its poise.
- Presented as part of the Town Hall Civics series with Elliott Bay Book Company.
- Series supported by The Boeing Company, the RealNetworks Foundation, and the True/Brown Foundation.
Tickets are $5 at www.townhallseattle.org or 888/377-4510 and at the door beginning at 6:30 pm. Town Hall members receive priority seating. Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street.
Είμαι ένας απλός πολίτης αλά ε της λίγες γνώσεις που έχω αποκτήσει από της σπουδές αλλά και με το διάβασμα ακολουθώ την λογική σας ως τη πιο ενδιαφέρουσα ανάλυση αφού η κρίση είναι χρηματοοικονομική θα ακολουθεί και τους κανόνες της αγοράς και του χρήματος όπως αναφέρατε και εσείς α) Αμερικάνικη κρίση στην συνέχεια γέννηση εφηβεία ενηλικίωση γήρανση θάνατος β Β παγκόσμιος πόλεμος γέννηση εφηβεία ενηλικίωση γήρανση θάνατος γ) κατάρρευση της γκόλτμαν σάξ 2008 γέννηση εφηβεία ενηλικίωση γήρανση θάνατος. πιστεύω λοιπών ότι τα γεγονότα είναι καθοδηγούμενα από οικονομικούς κύκλους που γνωρίζουν καλά πως θα χειριστούν της οικονομίες και της μάζες ανθρώπων. Σας ευχαριστώ χωρίς να σας είδα από κοντά αφού ζω στην Κρήτη αλλά δεν είναι δυνατών να μην γνωρίζουν αφού ίδιοι άνθρωποι έχουν δημιουργήσει το πρόβλημα, ενώ ο κόσμος είναι απλός παρατηρητής.
Hello Yanis I thought your talk in Seattle was the most complete analysis you have given so far. In reference to this and the issue of “recycled savings” I offer you a perspective from someone else who thinks and writes outside the box. I hope you will read it as it is very different than anything I have seen so far (it is not new this analyst has been saying these same exact things for 12 years on the internet). It’s not easy to except new challenging ideas but I hope you will give it a try. It is probably his most concise and urgent essay yet that I have seen. There are many direct parallels between your talk and this article but there may be a better answer for the collapse of worldwide demand destroying employement (I hope so). No need to reply to me.
Regards
Futurist Positive
http://www.professorfekete.com/articles/AEFTheGoldProblemRevisited2.pdf
Promise to read it asap.
I saw your talk last night at Seattle Town Hall. It was very interesting & comprehensible. I appreciate that you came to talk to us.
Your theory makes sense, but as you say, it is complex and not easy to explain in 20 seconds. It is worth understanding just the same.
I don’t remember where I found your blog, but I read each new entry with interest. The things you have posted make about the most sense of any of the commentators I follow (along with Michael Pettis & Paul Krugman, fwiw).
One question that you said you would not address was what is likely to happen in the EZ (something like that). This is a very interesting question & I would have liked to have heard what you think will happen. The possibilities (in real life, as opposed to what people hope) rather look like — some of the countries will leave the euro & Europe will recover economically or — the EZ will break up & Europe will be a basket case for a while.
In summary, thank you very much for the work you do and for sharing it with us. I find it quite valuable.
Beth
Thanks Beth. As for the Eurozone, I fear you are right. The way things are going we are headed for a postmodern depression which will benefit only the neo-nazis, the misanthropes and those who feast of fear and misery.
You forgot the Eurocrats, who will not be punished to have created themess in the first place.
I am not a Tsipras guy but he is correct in saying that Greece is absent from the negotiations shaping its future. Greece should have taken a notorious and public position in siding with the IMF on the necessity for an OSI haircut.
Such opportunities don’t come every day and it’s about time that the whole world knows the true villain of the story: Germany and her compound failings.
Moral of the story: Never trust official Germany to do anything right. In fact trust official Germany always to do the wrong thing, or the language of the markets be always a negative indicator.
Hi Yanis, in case you’re interested and have time to read this short article I wrote (in French for now, but hopefully translated soon!) about Greece and how orthodox economic science provides a justification for it :
http://lecercle.lesechos.fr/economie-societe/international/europe/221159402/grece-justification-scientifique-dun-massacre
What does anyone make out of this?
U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-12/u-dot-s-dot-to-overtake-saudi-arabia-s-oil-production-by-2020-iea-says
The future of World Economy…well it is anticipated that China is going to take the lead by 2016 from US (according to OECD forecasts: http://en.rian.ru/world/20121109/177332805.html).
The crisis we observe now is an effort to stop the rise of the Chinese.
How do you stop a rising economy? You hit its power supply. For example you invade Iran (10% of oil supplies for China come from Iran). What will the response of China be? See for yourself in the next paragraph (taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Iran_relations) :
In 2011, the group Green Experts of Iran reported that Beijing and Tehran had signed an extensive deal that would give China exclusive rights to several Iranian oil and natural gas fields through 2024. Under the terms of the deal, Iran will give Chinese oil companies exclusive rights to three large regions of Iranian land as well as the rights to build all necessary infrastructure for these regions, all of which sit atop of large oil and natural gas fields. In return, China promises to treat any foreign attack against these regions as attacks against its own sovereign territory, and will defend them as such. China will have no need for prior permission from the Iranian government to maintain and increase its military presence in Iran, and will control the movement of Iranians in and out of these territories.[8] The Green Experts of Iran speculate that this agreement was the concrete basis for Major General Zhang Zhaozhong’s statement that “China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third World War.” [9]
The Euro Crisis Explained To Grannies: For a very simple (and funny) explanation for the euro crisis, just write on your search engine: wordpress blog The euro crisis explained to grannies
Reblogged this on Greek Left Review.
Best of luck to Yani.
This is also an awesome analysis (from the Greek point of view). For non-Greek speakers use Google translate.
http://www.foreignaffairs.gr/articles/69031/athanasios-gkotobos/pos-kai-giati-i-germania-epitethike-enantion-ton-ellinon?page=show
Dean
And this is a nice video from the Portuguese
http://www.defence-point.gr/news/?p=63473