English
Why We Must Challenge Zuckerberg’s Ring of Power – Project Syndicate
, 26/01/2022
Learning to appreciate that control is an illusion is hard, especially when we are prepared to sacrifice almost everything, to pay any price, to control others. But if we are to stop others—Mark Zuckerberg, for example—from controlling us, it is a lesson we must learn. Once upon a time, in the ancient kingdom of Lydia, a […]
The causes of inflation and what to do about it – Keynote at Banking Conference, Sofia 2 DEC 2021
, 26/01/2022
Invited by the Bulgarian Central Bank’s Deputy Governor, here is a keynote I delivered in Sofia, on 2nd December 2021, in which I offer a historical explanation of the nature and causes of our current inflation – as well as a proposed policy response that would help (but which vested interests are impeding).
The State of the Global Economy under the heavy burden of twelve lost years – Keynote (audio + text)
, 21/01/2022
A keynote summing up my view that, since 2009, the world has wasted enormous resources in a bid to re-float finance and at the expense of our capacity to look after each other, and the planet, at a time humanity is facing existential threats – from climate catastrophe to war and toxic politics. My discussants […]
Greek government’s market fundamentalism undermines Greece’s vaccination drive – BBC World Service
, 17/01/2022
As of today, unvaccinated older Greeks (60+) will forfeit 100 euros each month. Market fundamentalism is pushing the Mitsotakis government to adopt a measure that undermines its own vaccination drive. Yet another example of how the neoliberal mindset fails to understand that the principles of demand and supply do not work when it comes to […]
On Brexit and the task of confronting technofeudalism – Interview in The Morning Star
, 03/01/2022
ONE YEAR since the final deal for Brexit was announced, it remains one of the most divisive political subjects for a generation. Perhaps unknown to most, the incendiary B-word had its genesis in the term “Grexit” — coined during tumultuous years after the 2008 credit crunch when a Greek exit from the EU was speculated, […]
A prediction for 2022, plus two book recommendations – Happy New Year everyone!
, 30/12/2021
No impending New Year deserves to be unaccompanied with predictions that it, the New Year, will then proceed to ridicule. So, to tempt fate, here is my prediction for the 2022. Plus, two eye-opening books I recommend to people kept up at night by concerns similar to mine. Happy New Year to all, friends and […]
MERA25: DiEM25’s new German (!) Party is now a reality
, 27/12/2021
You may have heard of MeRA25, the first political party that DiEM25 created in Greece – and which entered Greek Parliament in July 2019. Well, true to our ambitious transnational agenda, DiEM25 took matters further: We recently established MERA25 as a… German political party that is now legally and organisationally ready and willing to contest […]
Rosemary Bechler (1951-2021) – A wonderful life, a tower of intellect, a beautiful heart and the ideal comrade for all of us at DiEM25 and beyond
, 27/12/2021
“Such a relief to be working on this with you guys … all the best and sleep much better for all this classy political activity! As I will now!” That was the last email I received from her. The campaign that she referred to was DiEM25’s recent, and very successful, crusade to save the NHS […]
Interviewed by Azeem Azhar (Harvard Business Review) on tech, economics, and the future of democracy – audio
, 27/12/2021
In this podcast, I join Azeem Azhar EXPONENTIAL VIEW to discuss my novel Another Now (click here for the English and here for the US versions). [Click here to listen on their site and here for Spotify) We discuss the book’s vision of a world where mass organization, technological progress, and an overhaul of companies and markets have made […]
The Economic Model of ANOTHER NOW, by AFTER THE OLIGARCHY: Video plus interview
, 27/12/2021
In my novel ANOTHER NOW (click here for the English and here for the US versions) I put forward a blueprint for a socialist, decentralised, market society in which the profit-wage nexus, share markets and commercial banks have become extinct. AFTER THE OLIGARCHY were kind enough to produce a 40′ video explaining the economic model of ANOTHER NOW […]
Russell Brand interrogates me on my novel ANOTHER NOW. Sparks fly and fun is had as we discuss what we can replace technofeudal capitalism with
, 27/12/2021
Can the system ever change or are we stuck? Are we condemned to live as modern peasants in a technofeudal order? Or can we create a postcapitalist system that utilises technology to revive socialism as a realistic, attractive, freedom-enhancing prospect? Is my novel ANOTHER NOW (click here for the English and here for the US […]
Why Croatia should NOT adopt the euro PLUS European politics, technofeudalism, US & China – Interviewed by Vecernji List
, 27/12/2021
In an exclusive interview by Nataša Vlašić Smrekar for Croatian media Vecernji List, I explained why it would be a grave error for non-eurozone EU member-states, like Croatia, to adopt the euro. We also talked extensively about European politics, Technofeudalism, my novel Another Now, and the US-China stand-off. Here is the original English language version […]
Defining wealth in 65 words for SPEARS magazine
, 27/12/2021
Spears asked me, and three others, to define WEALTH in fewer than 70 words. Their rationale was that, at the time of Spear’s founding, in 2006, there were fewer than 1,000 billionaires world-wide; their combined net worth a little under $3 trillion. Today, there are 2,755 billionaires, according to Forbes, and they have a collective […]
How should self-managed enterprises work in a postcapitalist setting? Follow the ongoing M. Albert-Y. Varoufakis debate
, 24/12/2021
Tragically, most people take bosses for granted. Capitalist firms have them by construction, by design. But, what of cooperative enterprises that are owned by everyone working within them? Do they also need bosses? A managerial class that tells the rest what to do? Or can we envisage boss-less firms? If so, how do things that […]
Julian’s extradition marks a Dark Day for British Justice
, 10/12/2021
With its decision to extradite Julian Assange to the United States, Britain’s High Court wasted a precious opportunity to save what is left of the honour of Britain’s courts after so many years of their complicity in the slow murder of a man whose only crime was to reveal our governments’ crimes against humanity. From […]
With Phillip Adams on Late Night Live (ABC RN) talking about the hollow promise of 2021, Merkel, Zuckerberg, DiEM25 and… my dad
, 06/12/2021
End of the year, yes, a perfect time to look back to 2021 and its betrayed, hollow promises. Here, on ABC Radio National’s Late Night Live, I am chatting with Phillip Adams (DiEM25’s honorary member) the motivated fiasco that was Cop26, Angela Merkel’s peculiar failure, China, Zuckerberg and, yes, my… dad. Thanks Phillip
The West’s Wasted Year – Project Syndicate
, 06/12/2021
A year that began hopefully is ending grimly. Western political elites, unable (and perhaps unwilling) to turn a deadly pandemic and climate crisis into a life-preserving opportunity, have only themselves to blame. ATHENS – The silver lining in the gloomy cloud of the pandemic was the opportunity it gave the West to mend its ways. […]
A Progressive Monetary Policy Is the Only Alternative – Project Syndicate
, 06/12/2021
Torn between inflationary jitters and fear of deflation, central bankers in the major advanced economies are taking a potentially costly wait-and-see approach. Only a progressive rethink of their tools and aims can help them play a socially useful post-pandemic role. ATHENS – As the coronavirus pandemic recedes in the advanced economies, their central banks increasingly […]
DiEM25 is radicalising, seizing the moment, upping our game. Join us?
, 22/11/2021
A message for DiEM25 members: We are on the cusp for our paneuropean movement’s second, more radical, terribly necessary phase. Are you in? DiEM25 is your movement. Existing members, please go to https://diem25.org/YESlets to let us know that you’re in. Everyone else, you can get a full membership at https://internal.diem25.org/users/sig…
Visionary realism : Chatting with Noam Chomsky & Ann Pettifor on a green future beyond capitalism
, 17/11/2021
The context is the fraud and fiasco also known as Cop26. The frame is DiEM25’s COP-OFF video chats. And the purpose is to discuss whether there was ever a possibility of Cop26 yielding a significant prospect for a timely green transition. In this discussion Noam, Ann and I agree: Yes, the Green New Deal is […]
LA STAMPA interview on the Italian edition of ANOTHER NOW: From Marinnetti & the Sex Pistols to Hephaestus & favourite books
, 17/11/2021
On the occasion of the publication of my ANOTHER NOW in Italian (Un Altro Presente), La Stampa put to me some quirky and irreverent questions. Just in case you wanted to read them, and my answers, in the English original, here they are. Have fun! Marinetti and the Sex Pistols are milestones for Costa: is […]
Talking to the Bunker about ANOTHER NOW
, 16/11/2021
Renowned economist, politician, and author Yanis Varoufakis stopped by the Bunker to talk about his latest book, Another Now, which is an alternate history in which our world developed into a post-capitalist world after the economic crash in 2008. Yanis shared the story of how he was politicized early after the Greek civil war and his father’s imprisonment, […]
What’s behind the Cop26 fraud? – The Guardian
, 16/11/2021
There are three reasons Cop26 proved such a spectacular debacle: A planet-wide collective action problem over “free-riding”. A global coordination failure. And… capitalism! “Make no mistake, the money is here, if the world wants to use it,” said Mark Carney, the former Bank of England Governor who today serves as UN climate envoy while also representing […]