Essays
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 […]
Η Αλήθεια Μετά τον Τραμπ – από την στήλη μου στο 24 | 7
, 03/02/2021
Οι αντίπαλοι του Ντόναλντ Τραμπ τον αποκαλούν ψεύτη. Το πρόβλημα όμως είναι ότι ο Τραμπ είναι κάτι πολύ χειρότερο από ψεύτης. Ο Νίξον έλεγε ψέματα για να θάψει αλήθειες, το ίδιο κι ο Κλίντον και πολλοί άλλοι. Όχι, το πρόβλημα με τον Τραμπ είναι ότι μέσα σ’ ένα χείμαρρο ψεύδους που έβγαινε από το στόμα του που […]
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, […]
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 […]
“What New Institutions Do We Need For An International Green New Deal To Be Feasible?” Geneva Lecture Series, video & a review by Marie-Christine Ghreichi
, 30/12/2020
Organised by Prof. Anis H. Bajrektarevic as part of the University of Geneva Lecture Series on ‘Contemporary World of Geo-economics’, I was honoured with an invitation to deliver a long lecture on the pressing need for new international financial institutions to address crushing global imbalances and inequalities. Watch the video and also read a review […]
“Global Trade & Capital Imbalances imperil Global Stability” – Redaction Politics reviews my Holberg 2020 debate with John Bolton
, 30/12/2020
Redaction Politics published a review of my Holberg 2o2o debate with John Bolton on Global Stability. Their review is reproduced below. To watch the debate click here. Yanis Varoufakis lamented economic equality and pushed for global co-operation while John Bolton urged diplomatic confrontation as the pair battled over the question of “global stability” last week. […]
In conversation on the postcapitalist vision in my ANOTHER NOW – JACOBIN interview & DISSENS podcast
, 17/12/2020
State socialism has failed because of its authoritarian excesses, but the idea of socialism still offers the only alternative for a viable future – says Yanis Varoufakis. In 2015, in the midst of the Greek sovereign debt crisis, he became finance minister under Alexis Tsipras until he resigned after the referendum. In the meantime, he has […]
On CHANGE MAKERS discussing personal drive, happiness, capitalism, socialism and… Star Trek
, 11/12/2020
Our guest today on Change Makers is former finance minister of Greece, economist and author, Yanis Varoufakis. His view on the current world order may be critical, but this is as much a story of romance as it is reproach. Yanis believes happiness, like love, can only truly be found when you are not seeking […]
‘The Jimmy Dore Show’ goes to town with my take on the US Presidential election…
, 11/12/2020
For my complete assessment of the US Presidential 2020 election results see below:
Designing a postcapitalist future in the midst of the pandemic – The Saturday Paper
, 10/12/2020
Doubts that our world is morally indefensible become unforgiveable when even the bankers of the ultra-rich, along with the bailiffs working diligently on their behalf, are panicking about excessive inequality. UBS recently reported that, between April and July 2020, as the pandemic’s first wave was surging, the collective stash of the world’s billionaires grew by […]
A chat on ANOTHER NOW with The Guardian’s Zoe Williams – The Guardian Live
, 04/12/2020
‘Another Now is structurally, ideologically and linguistically an extraordinary work’ Zoe Williams
A free Central Bank account for all would be a good start for a revamped monetary system – WIRED
, 27/11/2020
Imagine that the Bank of England were to create a free bank account for everyone. Overnight, it would be far better placed to regulate the money supply in the public interest. Moreover, to stay in business, commercial banks would have to seriously raise their game. In times of trouble, such as the current pandemic, the […]
Discussing ANOTHER NOW with Joe Walker – The Jolly Swagman Podcast
, 27/11/2020
The Triumph & Tragedy Of Capitalism – a conversation occasioned by my new book ANOTHER NOW: Dispatches from an Alternative Present Also listen on: iTunes: tinyurl.com/y5quz6nt Website: tinyurl.com/y4ekbpfv Spotify: tinyurl.com/yxmwnmh4 Show notes Selected links Follow Yanis: Website | Twitter Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present, by Yanis Varoufakis The Sovereignty of Good, by Iris Murdoch ‘Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: […]
Today, Black Friday, we are boycotting Amazon, globally – Damien Gayle in The Guardian
, 27/11/2020
The economist Yanis Varoufakis has called for a one-day boycott of Amazon on Black Friday as trade unionists, environmental activists, privacy campaigners and tax justice advocates plan coordinated actions against the company’s sites and supply chain. Amazon’s success during the coronavirus pandemic – at one point the company was reported to be making sales of $11,000 (£8,200) […]
A discussion I enjoyed hugely with Matthew Taylor of the Royal Society of the Arts on my ANOTHER NOW
, 24/11/2020
How can a Marxist-feminist, a libertarian ex-banker and a maverick technologist help us navigate our new future? Economist Yanis Varoufakis explains all. Global crises cause big changes and reveal deep structural weaknesses. In this special interview series from the RSA its chief executive, Matthew Taylor, puts a range of practitioners on the spot – from scholars to […]
Live discussion of ANOTHER NOW with Zoe Williams – A GUARDIAN LIVE event this Monday at 19.00GMT
, 21/11/2020
In Another Now, Varoufakis imagines a post-capitalist democracy. Set in 2025, through three contrasting characters – a banker, a feminist and a technologist – he paints a radical and thought-provoking blueprint of how democratic socialism could work today, in a world without billionaires, stock markets or tech giants. Can we truly critique capitalism without genuinely considering the […]
The capitalism alternative in ANOTHER NOW – BBC World Service Business Daily 17 NOV 2020
, 18/11/2020
With Covid rampaging and many economies on life-support, some say we need to look beyond capitalism. A blue-sky thinker, the outspoken former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, gives his thoughts on a radical alternative to standard market economics, including making all employees shareholders in corporations. And Miatta Fahnbulleh, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation, […]
