English
Q&A on Technofeudalism – interviewed by Lorenzo Tecleme for valori.it
, 13/01/2024
In our society, large companies wield a considerable amount of power, more inequalities spread within our systems, and lobbying pervades our democracy: how is it possible that capitalism is dying as you claim? My claim is that capitalism is being killed by a new form of highly toxic, highly concentrated capital (which I call cloud […]
NATO from the perspective of having grown up under US-sponsored neofascism – UNHERD
, 12/01/2024
It was early September in 1971. My mother had taken me in a taxi to a boutique hotel in a leafy northern Athenian suburb to visit my favourite uncle, her beloved brother. Before we got out the car, she put her arm around me and whispered words of courage in my ear. You see, Hotel […]
Wolfgang Schäuble (1942-2023)
, 27/12/2023
Wolfgang Schäuble was the embodiment of the political project of buttressing a monetary union in which he himself did not believe. To do so he had to impose violent austerity even in Germany and to dismantle democratic institutions in countries like Greece. In other words, Schäuble personified the explosive contradiction that gave birth both to […]
Wishes for 2024 in the midst of a genocide – a message on behalf of DiEM25
, 24/12/2023
This is Yanis Varoufakis with an end of year message to you all on behalf of DiEM25 – our paneuropean democracy in Europe movement. This year’s festivities come at a time of a genocide that will stigmatise our generation. Yes, we must look after our loved ones, celebrate their achievements, take care of the ones […]
Europe’s Bad China Bluff – Project Syndicate op-ed
, 24/12/2023
Against the backdrop of the new cold war between the United States and China, the European Union’s top brass seems to be adding to the pressure on China by issuing credible threats in response to four grievances. Alas, the Chinese authorities are probably more amused than alarmed. ATHENS – On the December 7, the presidents […]
Working toward snatching humanist hope from the jaws of the unfolding genocide in Gaza. In conversation with Owen Jones
, 13/12/2023
Owen Jones kindly invited me back to his show to discuss, what else, Gaza. We talk about the peculiarity of this genocide (i.e., that its perpetrators do not even care to hide their intent), the forgotten readiness of Western governments to brutalise not only foreign peoples (like the Palestinians) but also their own working classes, […]
Why Europe is not free to relate to China – China Daily op-ed
, 11/12/2023
As the 24th EU-China Summit concluded on Thursday, it is natural to want to look behind the declarations and official speeches to identify the deeper forces shaping the European Union’s relationship with China and its policies toward China. But to understand the nature of these forces, it is crucial to go back to the very […]
By continuing the persecution of Julian Assange, Biden jetissons the 1st Amendment – The Nation
, 11/12/2023
In early 2024, a new, grim chapter may be written in the annals of journalistic history. Julian Assange, the publisher of Wikileaks, could board a plane for extradition to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years in prison on espionage charges for the crime of publishing newsworthy information. The persecution of Assange is […]
On the causes and nature of Populism’s Surge – interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend
, 11/12/2023
Discussing the surge of ultra-rightist populism, where I argued it all started with the West’s response to the 2008 crash – just like after 1929. When $35 trillion was printed on behalf of financiers (between 2009 and 2022), while most people were subjected to some variant of austerity, and given the Left’s failure to defend […]
As bombs are raining down on Gaza again, it is no longer about Hamas or Netanyahu. It is about OUR humanity being tested – video message
, 01/12/2023
A genocide of Palestinians is happening in Gaza now, in tandem with Israel’s methodically opportunistic ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. We are here because our humanity is being tested – because future generations will censure us for letting the death count exceed 10 thousand, mostly children and women. We are here […]
Europe’s 15-Year Slump – Project Syndicate op-ed
, 22/11/2023
The European Union’s supporters celebrate the survival of the euro, the fact that public debt is no longer the threat it was, and, crucially, that their mercantilist business model remains intact. But it has come at a steep price: Europe’s permanent stagnation and continuing fragmentation. ATHENS – Europe is languishing in a long-term economic slump whose origins […]
Questions I am frequently asked on Israel-Palestine
, 19/11/2023
The Israeli-Palestinian Question could not be more complex, urgent and emotionally charged. Those of us who take a position on it have a duty to a full disclosure of the thoughts, assumptions and beliefs that motivate our commentary. To this effect, I collected a number of questions I am frequently asked by friends and critics […]
How should we tax wealth & multinationals globally? Speech at UNDP, New York 14th NOV 2023
, 18/11/2023
Ms Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, Esteemed colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, before I address the question of taxing serious wealth seriously, I you forgive my inability to proceed without an acknowledgement of the human tragedy in the Middle East. As Secretary General Goutières correctly put it, nothing happens in a vacuum, nothing is […]
On Europe’s historic responsibility for the war crimes in the ancient land of Palestine – Al Jazeera
, 18/11/2023
On UpFront, interviewed by Marc Lamont Hill on Europe’s historic responsibility and current role in the Israel-Gaza war.
Discussing Israel’s War Crimes with Katie Halper on USEFUL IDIOTS
, 12/11/2023
In this week’s live chat Yanis Varoufakis joins Katie and Aaron [Jump to 19:25 for the Yanis Varoufakis interview]: “The United States fully endorses Israel’s war crimes,” says Greece’s former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. “Because that’s what it is. When you switch off the water to two and a half million people, by the Geneva […]
Review of TECHNOFEUDALISM – Christopher Pollard in ‘The Conversation’
, 12/11/2023
Yanis Varoufakis grew up during the Greek dictatorship of 1967-1974. He later became an economics professor and was briefly Greek finance minister in 2015. His late father, a chemical engineer in a steel plant, instilled in his son a critical appreciation of how technology drives social change. He also instilled him with a belief that […]
Discussing TECHNOFEUDALISM on ABC-tv THE DRUM with Ellen Fanning and panel
, 03/11/2023
Interviewed by Ellen Fanning on ABC-tv The Drum on my new book TECHNOFEUDALISM: What killed capitalism. A 20 minute-long discussion involving a diverse panel. Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis is published by Bodley Head
The big idea: has the digital economy killed capitalism? – The Guardian
, 03/11/2023
Enter Amazon and you have exited capitalism. Despite all the buying and the selling that goes on there, you have entered a realm that can’t be thought of as a market, not even a digital one.” When I say this to people, which I frequently do in lectures and debates, they look at me as they […]
Big Tech Cannot Be Regulated – Project Syndicate op-ed
, 01/11/2023
Big Tech is so profoundly different from other industries that it cannot be regulated like the trusts, cartels, or conglomerates of the past. After all, if regulators tried to break up Facebook or TikTok, they would be confronted by enraged users for whom the universal nature of these platforms is the reason they use them. […]
On Israel-Palestine, Ukraine and the Hypocrisy of the West – acTVism Munich
, 27/10/2023
In this episode of The Source, we talk to world-renowned economist and intellectual Yanis Varoufakis about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the international developments taking place in the European Union and the United Nations around it. We also explore the question of whether Israel’s 56-year occupation of Palestine and its settlement policy have contributed to the […]
Sign here DiEM25’s petition: Time for Europe’s greatest liability, Mrs Ursula von der Leyen, to go!
, 22/10/2023
DiEM25-MERA25 has launched a petition for the removal of Mrs Ursula von der Leyen from the Presidency of the European Commission. Below is the text of Yanis Varoufakis’ video message to Ms. von der Leyen. To sign the petition please click here. Mrs von der Leyen, the moment you landed in Tel Aviv, not as […]
El Pais long interview on my TECHNOFEUDALISM
, 20/10/2023
LONG READ by MIGUEL ÁNGEL GARCÍA VEGA in El Pais on my Technofeudalism. Miguel has interviewed me many times in the past but this time he did so exclusively for my new book TECHNOFEUDALISM: What killed capitalism which will shortly be available in Spanish also. Here is the English language version of Miguel’s piece, based […]
Cory Doctorow reviews my TECHNOFEUDALISM for truthdig
, 16/10/2023
Socialists have been hotly anticipating the end of capitalism since at least 1848, when Marx and Engels published The Communist Manifesto – but the Manifesto also reminds us that capitalism is only too happy to reinvent itself during its crises, coming back in new forms, over and over again. Now, in Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, Yanis Varoufakis – the “libertarian Marxist” former finance […]