Yanis Varoufakis

“CAPITALISM WILL EAT DEMOCRACY”.

GREEK FINANCE MINISTER (2015). ECONOMIC ADVISOR.

Yanis Varoufakis speaker, ted, keynote
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Having led Greek bail-out negotiations during one of the most dramatic periods in the history of the EU, Yanis Varoufakis is now one of the most prominent anti-austerity voices in the world. As well as supporting progressive, left-learning solutions to economic problems, he also takes a critical view of the EU, global financial institutions and conventional political and economic wisdom.

Yanis Varoufakis served as Minister of Finance of Greece in during one of the most dramatic periods in the country’s modern history. He has since gone on to be a leading anti-austerity voice across Europe and the world, supporting a more progressive, left-leaning solution to the economic woes many have faced since the banking crisis.

 

After the financial crisis that nearly bankrupted the country, Greece witnessed political and social turmoil rarely seen in Europe for over 50 years. With general elections and referenda happening almost yearly, there was a search for stability as the country sought to negotiate its national debt.

 

The election of the socialist Syriza (or Coalition of the Radical Left) saw Yanis elected to parliament and appointed as Finance Minister shortly afterwards. The party promised to stand firm against the ECB-imposed austerity measures and Yanis led discussions with the bank, the IMF and EU members. Faced with a new bail-out proposal, Yanis staked his political career on rejecting it. When a national referendum on the scheme approved it, true to his word, he resigned from government.

Since his brief stint in politics Yanis has returned to economics, and has becoming a leading critic of austerity plans around the world. He is also outspoken on the EU and the ECB for their actions and lack of accountability. Often controversial, but always considered, he compiled his thoughts on global economics and the aftermath of the financial crisis in his book “And The Weak Suffer What They Must?: Europe, Austerity and the Threat to Global Stability”.

Educated in Greece and the UK, Yanis has taught economics and econometrics at the University of Essex and the University of East Anglia. He was a Fellow at the University of Cambridge, was a senior lecturer in economics at the University of Sydney, and became Professor of Economic Theory at the University of Athens. Whilst in Athens he also served as economic advisor to George Papandreou, then Prime Minister of Greece.

The European Crisis in its Global Context.

Power, Populism and the Future of the EU.

Digitisation of the Finance and Monetary Markets.

Brexit: An unorthodox view.

Europe's Crisis and America's Economic Future.

Capitalism will eat democracy -- unless we speak up.

Basic Income is a Necessity.

Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present.

*A New Statesman Book to Read in 2020*

Imagine a world with no banks. No stock market. No tech giants. No billionaires.

Imagine if Occupy and Extinction Rebellion actually won.

In Another Now world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis shows us what such a world would look like. Far from being a fantasy, he describes how it could have come about - and might yet. But would we really want it?

Varoufakis's boundary-breaking new book confounds expectations of what the good society would look like and reveals the uncomfortable truth about our desire for a better world...

Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present.

Talking to My Daughter: A Brief History of Capitalism.

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**

Yanis Varoufakis, world renowned economist, writes to his daughter to teach her the hazards of capitalism.

‘Why is there so much inequality?’ asked Xenia to her father. Answering her questions in a series of accessible and tender letters, Varoufakis educates her to what economics and capitalism is and why it is so dangerous.

Taking from memories of her childhood and a variety of well-known tales – from Oedipus and Faust to Frankenstein and The Matrix – Varoufakis turns Talking To My Daughter into an enjoyable and engaging read, without ever shying from the harder truths. Greece’s former finance minister explains everything you need to know to understand why economics is the most important drama of our times.

In answering his daughter’s deceptively simple questions, Varoufakis disentangles our troubling world with remarkable clarity and child-like honesty, as well as inspiring us to make it a better one.

'Utterly accessible, deeply humane and startlingly original - a potent democratic tool at the perfect time' Naomi Klein

Talking to My Daughter: A Brief History of Capitalism.

Adults In The Room: My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment.

** The Sunday Times #1 Bestseller**

'One of the greatest political memoirs of all time' Guardian

What happens when you take on the European establishment?

Read as world-famous, provocative economist, and former Greece finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, blows the lid on his battle with EU officials over the Greek debt crisis.

Varoufakis sparked one of the most spectacular and controversial battles in recent political history with his attempt to renegotiate Greece’s relationship with the European Union. Yet despite the mass support of the Greek people, and simple logic of his arguments, he succeeded only in provoking the fury of Europe’s political, financial and media elite.
Exposing the real business taking place behind the EU’s closed doors, Varoufakis reveals all in this fearless, personal account. Adults In The Room is an extraordinary tale of brinkmanship, hypocrisy, collusion and betrayal that will shake the European and economic establishment to its foundations.

Varoufakis is sending out an urgent wake-up call to renew European democracy before it is too late.

**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

Adults In The Room: My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment.