English
The EU’s multiple failures are due to its immunity to democracy – The New Statesman
, 14/02/2021
From denial, to grudging acceptance, to substantial intervention, to debacle: that was the European Union’s trajectory once the storm that nearly consumed Wall Street in 2008 had crossed the Atlantic, starting the euro crisis. Twelve years later, the EU’s reaction to Covid-19’s arrival is following an ominously comparable trajectory. Eurosceptics take aim at the EU’s […]
Speaking of antisemitism… – A personal view as related to my DiEM25 comrades (video + text)
, 14/02/2021
On 4th February 2021, DiEM25’s coordinating collective held a discussion on how progressives can, at once, fight antisemitism and remain highly critical of Israel’s policies. You can watch a video of my speech and read an extended version of these thoughts below. Last week, while discussing competing identities, I argued that it is unacceptable to […]
Trumpism after Trump – NEWSWEEK magazine, interviewed by Basit Mahmood
, 12/02/2021
He’s been described as the George Clooney of the government, a rockstar politician who took on the EU and an “erratic Marxist.” Few politicians can hope – or fear – to achieve the levels of notoriety Yanis Varoufakis did in just six months while serving as finance minister of Greece. A world-renowned economist, Varoufakis now […]
From an imagined hi-tech rebellion to the GameStop incident: Lessons for collective action in the 21st Century – Der Freitag
, 12/02/2021
When in 2008 I heard that Lehman Brothers collapsed, and thousands of its staff were laid off, I allowed myself a fantasy. I imagined that one of the laid off financial engineers, whom for some reason I named Esmeralda, would turn into a dissident. That, incensed with the way she had been discarded by the […]
Was the GameStop episode a version of ANOTHER NOW’s Crowdshorters-in-action ? On Channel 4 (video)
, 30/01/2021
Further to this post, in which I compare my ANOTHER NOW‘s fictional Crowdshorters with the crowd that used Reddit to collude so as to defeat the hedge funds shorting GameStop, you can now watch my brief debate with Frances Coppola on Channel 4. Was that episode of broader interest? Is this a new phenomenon of […]
Did we see yesterday something like ANOTHER NOW’s Crowdshorters in action ? You be the judge!
, 28/01/2021
In my ANOTHER NOW I imagined a new type of resistance movement that uses the tools of finance to bring down capitalism and create a democratic market socialist economy in its stead. I called them CROWDSHORTERS. Yesterday, I received many messages suggesting that the CROWDSHORTERS are emerging for real, with the Reddit group that supported […]
From an Economics without Capitalism to Markets without Capitalism – Tübingen University talk
, 28/01/2021
A lecture organised by University of Tübingen economics students, delivered on Monday February 3, 2020, on the theme “From an Economics without Capitalism to Markets without Capitalism”. Mainstream economic models lack some important features of really-existing capitalism, including money, time and space. Its models offer ideological cover for a capitalist system that has usurped competitive, […]
Greece’s slide to parliamentary dictatorship – video
, 28/01/2021
My statement in the Greek parliament after MeRA25 MP Aggeliki Adamopolou was shockingly stripped of her Parliamentary immunity for daring to criticise the police in a speech she gave in Parliament. Greece is now a dictatorship under parliamentary cloak.
Identity, solidarity and DiEM25
, 25/01/2021
If I were a transgender person and a bunch of Lefties dared lecture me that the exploitation of factory workers by capitalists is more important than my daily struggle tο function as a transgender person, I would tell them to get lost. No one has the right to tell those who are hurt, terrified, exploited […]
Is it sensible to fret about public debt’s rise during the pandemic? A debate with Todd G. Buchholz on Pairagraph
, 23/01/2021
Is public debt a bomb about to explode taking us down? Or is fretting about public debt a tactic for preparing public opinion for a new austerity drive that will cause debt to grow even faster? Read my debate with Todd G. Buchholz organised by pairagraph.com (see here for the original publication) Todd G. Buchholz’s […]
What is at stake is the independence of Ecuador, not of its central bank. This is why the oligarchy is attacking Andrés Arauz- video
, 20/01/2021
It is with considerable amusement that I follow the international oligarchy’s anxiety to prevent Andrés Arauz from winning the presidential election. I say amusement because they have chosen to damage his standing by painting him as a threat to the independence of Ecuador’s central bank – of which Andres was the youngest governor. Let’s get […]
“The EU after Brexit” Keynote followed by a conversation with Norman Lamont – 27th January 2021
, 20/01/2021
In this keynote, organised by the Economics Research Council, I shall discuss, and re-assess, the deeper forces leading to Brexit. Moving beyond the myth of it as the manifestation of some British idiosyncrasy, I shall trace its causes in a fundamental incompatibility between British and Continental capitalism which the financial crisis of 2008 brought to […]
Why I oppose vaccination passports – On BBC World Service’s NEWSDAY
, 18/01/2021
Greece says there's a case for a Covid vaccine passport which would allow people to travel freely within the EU. But @yanisvaroufakis is concerned it could encourage governments – and businesses – to demand more of our personal informationhttps://t.co/WCHBTof5Ev — BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) January 18, 2021 LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW HERE
DiEM25’s consultations toward not only an updated pan-European manifesto but also for national manifestos – read the questionnaire for YOUR country and participate!
, 18/01/2021
As we approach our fifth anniversary, DiEM25 will mark the milestone with an updated Manifesto, reflecting upon the lessons learned and the new facts on the ground. In addition, we are working to put together, for the first time, DiEM25’s vision for each of our countries. You can download now the questionnaires that DiEMers are […]
Debt is never the problem, just the symptom of a deeper drama – Interviewed by L’Humanité (French)
, 17/01/2021
L’économiste et ancien ministre grec des Finances analyse les ressorts profonds de la crise actuelle, et invite à réfléchir aux moyens de transformer l’Union européenne. ENTRETIEN. À 59 ans, il a déjà vécu plusieurs vies. Universitaire né en Grèce et formé en Grande-Bretagne, enseignant dans plusieurs pays, Yanis Varoufakis fut conseiller économique du gouvernement grec, puis accepta le poste […]
Launching the Project for Peace and Justice: Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana, Ronnie Kasrils, Yanis Varoufakis, Scarlett Westbrook | Sunday 17/1 at 15.00 GMT
, 16/01/2021
To register and be part of this launch, click here.
Watch Brian Eno, Ken Loach, Roger Waters, Frank Barat, Stefania Maurizi & Yanis Varoufakis discuss the Julian Assange case
, 07/01/2021
Two days after a UK judge blocked the US request to extradite Julian Assange, we discussed this decision and what it means for the future of journalism and freedom of speech. The discussion took place at 5pm GMT on 6th January 2020
To rid ourselves of GDP we need to move beyond capitalism, to ANOTHER NOW – Response to Timothée Parrique’s response
, 05/01/2021
In a reaction to a throwaway line of mine in this interview relating to my new book ANOTHER NOW, Timothée Parrique wrote this piece. I find it hard to disagree with anything of substance he wrote. I was not even upset that Timothée (who clearly has not read my book) misrepresented my position, making me sound […]
A Festive Message on behalf of DiEM25 for 2021: “Because things are the way they are, things will not remain the way they are.” B. Brecht
, 30/12/2020
I am Yanis Varoufakis with a message for the New Year from DiEM25. 2020 leaves behind much debris – pain, fear, broken lives, smashed dreams. But, we also owe a debt of gratitude to 2020: It has helped expose seven fundamental secrets. We used to think of governments as powerless. But since Covid-19 struck we […]