Essays
Europe, Greece, Trump & the need for American and European progressives to unite – in conversation with Nomi Konst on TYT
, 24/11/2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EUb0XDVg_w
New York Times review of ‘Adults in the Rooom’, by Justin Fox
, 23/11/2017
“A gripping tale of an outspoken intellectual’s sudden immersion in high-stakes politics,… an attempt to divine why smart, seemingly decent politicians and bureaucrats would continue pushing a pointlessly cruel approach long after its pointlessness had become clear.” “Varoufakis wasn’t always trying to make waves. And he seems to have approached his chief task with great seriousness.” Why […]
Discussing ‘Adults in the Room’ on ‘This is Hell!’ – Radio/Audio
, 18/11/2017
The disintegration has already begun: Austerity politics at the end of Europe. Episode 978: Debtor’s Prism After 2008, all you ended up with is functionaries of the deep establishment, minding their own interests, propagating their own careers, looking after their mates in the financial sector, and practicing the fine art of the revolving door – with […]
On the neo-Nazi Resurgence in Europe and why “ISIS Loves Donald Trump” – in conversation with Amy Goodman
, 18/11/2017
AMY GOODMAN: You heard in this introduction the tax plan that has been put forward. And you’re here in this country, and this is your specialty. You’re an economist. You taught at what? University of Texas, Austin? YANIS VAROUFAKIS: That is right. AMY GOODMAN: And you’re at University of Athens now in Greece. You’re the finance minister, former finance minister in […]
DiEM25 tritt als Bewegung bei Wahlen an – der Freitag
, 14/11/2017
Europa zurückholen Mit Europa steht es nicht zum Besten. Die Bewegung DiEM25 will via Demokratisierung zu einem Europa der Menschen anregen. Statt zuzusehen, wie es “über die Klippen geht” Als die GriechInnen „Oxi“, nein, zu den europäischen „Reformen“ gesagt hatten und darob von den „Institutionen“ noch schlimmer gedemütigt worden waren, schrieb ich: Europa ist gestorben (dazu […]
UK needs ‘Norway-style’ deal post-Brexit, says Varoufakis – The Irish Times
, 12/11/2017
The UK should stay within the single market for five years after Brexit and Northern Ireland beyond that under “nominal” control from the UK, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has said. Speaking on a visit to Ireland, Mr Varoufakis, who was Greece’s finance minister in 2015, said Britain should apply for a five-year transitional […]
How Trump rose to power (in 2’33”) – Business Insider video
, 09/11/2017
Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece and author of “Adults in the Room: My Battle with the European and American Deep Establishment,” explains that the rise of Donald Trump and the alt-right is a symptom of the failure of the establishment and liberal capitalism. Following is a transcript of the video. Yanis Varoufakis: My name is Yanis […]
“BREXIT: What must be avoided and what must be done, now!” – Speech at the Royal Society, London, 7 NOV 2017
, 08/11/2017
No venue is better suited for a detoxifying discussion on Brexit than The Royal Society, whose motto (Nullius In Verba – On No One’s Word) ought to be the foundation of all rational debate. I was, thus, moved and deeply honoured by the EEF’s (*) invitation to deliver their annual lecture on Brexit in The Royal Society. […]
On Catalonia, the Muslim Ban and a Sustainable World Order
, 03/11/2017
We continue our conversation with economist and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. His new book is entitled Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe’s Deep Establishment.
On Nazi Resurgence in Europe & Why ISIS Loves Donald Trump – On Democracy Now tv
, 03/11/2017
We speak with former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis about the rise of the far-right Golden Dawn party in his country and how their policies “have infiltrated the mainstream” in European politics, including anti-immigrant measures similar to those proposed by Trump. Varoufakis says Trump’s vow to crack down on immigration after the attack in New […]
On Global Capitalism & How Trump’s Tax Plan is Class War Against the Poor – On Democracy Now tv
, 03/11/2017
President Trump and House Republicans have unveiled their long-promised proposal to reform America’s tax code, with Trump calling it a “big, beautiful Christmas present” for the American people. Critics say the gift is a tax cut for the richest Americans. We discuss the proposal with economist and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who argues, […]
Puerto Ricans Deserve an Escape from “Permanent Debt Prison” – on Democracy Now tv
, 03/11/2017
As the White House finally agrees to release FEMAdisaster aid with more flexibility to try to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s devastated power grid and other infrastructure, we speak with economist Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek finance minister, about the history of the island’s debt crisis and what to do as it recovers from Hurricane Maria.
Long, personal interview with William Leith in The Guardian on ‘Talking to my Daughter About the Economy’
, 03/11/2017
Yanis Varoufakis is telling me about the birth of his daughter, Xenia. “What I felt was an immense weight of responsibility,” he says. “Absolutely blind love and the sense of focusing on one individual.” But the experience didn’t make him feel like a different person. “It didn’t change my internal constitution or the way I looked […]
Q&A with Esquire Magazine plus a warning for Trump, 2nd November 2017
, 03/11/2017
“It is something that people find hard to fathom, but in 1980, Greece had the lowest level of debt in Europe. We were save, save, save, like the Chinese are today. Financialization, which is a global phenomenon, hit Greece around then. Suddenly, this culture of parsimony evaporated.” AS TOLD TO ASH CARTER, NOV 2, 2017 Yanis Varoufakis, former […]
Lesbos’s Ghosts, Europe’s Disgrace – Project Syndicate op-ed, 31st October 2017
, 31/10/2017
Oct 31, 2017 YANIS VAROUFAKIS , GEORGE TYRIKOS-ERGAS In September alone, another 2,238 refugees arrived in Lesbos, despite Turkey’s attempts to cut the flow. A camp designed for 2,000 people now “houses” three times that number, behind rows of barbed wire, in a magma of mud, refuse, and human excrement. ATHENS – In 2015, hundreds of thousands of […]
Συνέντευξη στην Guardian (μεταφρασμένη στα ελληνικά) επί τη ευκαιρία της αγγλικής έκδοσης του “Μιλώντας στην κόρη μου για την οικονομία”
, 31/10/2017
To νέο σας βιβλίο που εξηγεί την ιστορία και τις αδικίες του καπιταλισμού, απευθύνεται στην 13χρονη κόρη σας, την Ξένια. Ποια ήταν η γνώμη της; Η κόρη μου είναι ο πιο σκληρός κριτής μου, οπότε, ακόμα κι αν της αρέσει κάτι, είναι πολύ φειδωλή στις φιλοφρονήσεις. Υπό αυτή την έννοια, χάρηκα με τα ενθαρρυντικά της […]
Book review of ‘Adults in the Room’ in the Los Angeles Review of Books
, 28/10/2017
The Ins and Outs of Europe’s Deep Establishment By Stan Persky I. ONE EVENING in spring 2015, a finance minister walks into a bar in Washington, DC, looking for some insider advice. No, this is not one of those man-walks-into-a-bar-type jokes. On this occasion, the man walking into a bar is Yanis Varoufakis, the then-newly-minted finance […]
Liberation: «En Europe, les chiffres prospèrent, les gens désespèrent»
, 28/10/2017
L’ancien ministre des Finances de Tsípras, qui a lutté bec et ongles contre l’austérité et vient de publier un livre au vitriol, dénonce les «mensonges» de la crise grecque. Et regarde d’un œil plus que sceptique la politique de Macron. Il l’avait promis, il a osé le faire : peu après sa démission du poste de ministre […]
Q&A in the New Statesman, on the occasion on the publication of ‘Talking to My Daughter About the Economy’
, 28/10/2017
Yanis Varoufakis Q&A: “My despondencies have become a source of energy” The economist talks “Stairway to Heaven”, game theory, and how to make good predictions. What’s your earliest memory? The first time I flew in a passenger plane. I must have been about four and I was very impressed and very scared by it. Who […]
‘Talking to my daughter about the economy’ – Book review in The Guardian by Anna Minton
, 28/10/2017
Not many authors write a book in nine days, and fewer still are likely to announce it in the prologue. Yanis Varoufakis has no qualms about doing so in this brief history of capitalism, structured around the device of talking to his daughter, Xenia, not long a teenager. It was first published a few years ago, when she […]
On China as a patient investor – Project Syndicate Video
, 27/10/2017
With President Xi Jinping’s signature ‘Belt and Road’ initiative gaining momentum, more countries will be negotiating with China for inward investment in infrastructure. Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek Finance Minister, says that his own experience was highly encouraging. Greece and China, two ancient civilizations, two countries whose peoples have had a long experience and quite […]
Le cinéma est politique: conversation Costa Gavras-Yanis Varoufakis – Mediapart
, 18/10/2017
Rencontre entre l’ancien ministre et celui qui s’apprête à le transformer en héros de cinéma. Costa-Gavras envisage en effet de tourner un film autour de ce bras de fer de 2015. « Je veux parler de l’émotion que j’ai eue en lisant ce livre, par son personnage principal – c’est quand même un personnage de […]
Capitalism is making itself obsolete – The Independent (reporting on a talk at UCL)
, 18/10/2017
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has claimed capitalism is coming to an end because it is making itself obsolete. The former economics professor told an audience at University College London that the rise of giant technology corporations and artificial intelligence will cause the current economic system to undermine itself. Mr Varoufakis, who took on EU institutions over Greek debt […]